Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T05:11:20.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

From Idealism to Pragmatism: India and Asian Regional Integration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2011

RAJENDRA K. JAIN
RAJENDRA K. JAIN*
Affiliation:
Jean Monnet Chair and Professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhirkjain13@gmail.com, rkjain@mail.jnu.ac.in
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

After being at the periphery for decades, India's proactive engagement with East and Southeast Asia has gradually transformed it into an active participant in Asian regional organizations and multilateral processes. This paper examines early Indian attempts at forging pan-Asian unity and assesses the motivations and impact of its Look East Policy. It evaluates India's changing role towards regional cooperation in South Asia and sub-regional groupings, the impact of domestic politics, and discusses how China has influenced Indian perceptions and strategy towards Asian regionalism. After a long gap, India is again contributing ideas on Asian integration and stresses that the broader East Asian integration process should remain open and inclusive.

Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 213 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acharya, Amitav (2008), Asia Rising? Who is Leading, Singapore: World Scientific.Google Scholar
Banerjee, Dipankar (2008), ‘Presentation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’, Washington, DC, 5 June, at http://www.csis.org/media/csis/events/080701_summary_india-china_talk.pdf.Google Scholar
Baru, Sanjay (2006), ‘The Economic Dimension of India's Foreign Policy’, in Baru, Sanjay (ed.), Strategic Consequences of India's Economic Performance, New Delhi: Academic Foundation, pp. 57–76.Google Scholar
Baru, Sanjay (2007), Strategic Consequences of India's Economic Performance, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Baru, Sanjay (2009), ‘The Influence of Business and Media on Indian Foreign Policy’, Indian Review, 8 (3): 266–85.Google Scholar
Breslin, Shaun (2008), ‘Towards a Sino-centric Regional Order? Empowering China and Constructing Regional Order’, in Dent, Christopher M. (ed.), China, Japan and Regional Leadership in East Asia, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 131–55.Google Scholar
Brown, Peter J. (2010), ‘As India Pushes East, so China Worries’, Asia Times, 5 November.Google Scholar
Camroux, David (2007), ‘“Asia, whose Asia?” Evolving Conceptions of an Asian Community from the 1920s till today’, in Dieter, Herbert (ed.), The Evolution of Regionalism in Asia: Economic and Security Issues, London: Routledge, pp. 11–33.Google Scholar
Chatterjee, Shihashis (2007), ‘Conceptions of Space in India's Look East Policy: Order, Cooperation or Community?’, South Asian Survey, 14 (1): 65–81.Google Scholar
Dash, Kishore C. (1996), ‘The Political Economy of Regional Cooperation in South Asia’, Pacific Affairs, 69 (2): 185–209.Google Scholar
Dash, Kishore C. (2008), Regionalism in South Asia: Negotiating Cooperation, Institutional Structures, London, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Datta-Ray, Sunanda K. (2009), Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew's Mission to India, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Press.Google Scholar
Deshingkar, Giri (1999), ‘The Construction of Asia in India’, Asian Studies Review, 23 (2): 173–80.Google Scholar
Gaens, Bart (ed.) (2008), ‘The Outcomes of the ASEM6 Summit in Helsinki’, in Gaens, Bart (ed.), Europe-Asia Interregional Relations: A Decade of ASEM, Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 149–68.Google Scholar
Gill, Bates and Green, Michael J. (2009), ‘Unbundling Asia's New Multilateralism’, in Green, Michael J. and Gill, Bates (eds.), Asia's New Multilateralism: Cooperation, Competition and the Search for Community, New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 1–30.Google Scholar
Gupta, Ranjit (2007), ‘India's Look East Policy’, in Sinha, Atish and Mohta, Madhup (eds.), Indian Foreign Policy: Challenges and Opportunities, New Delhi: Academic Foundation, pp. 353–79.Google Scholar
Gupta, Sisir (1964), India and Regional Integration in Asia, Bombay: Asia Publishing House.Google Scholar
He, Baogang (2004), ‘East Asian Ideas of Regionalism: A Normative Critique’, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 58 (1): 105–25.Google Scholar
Jain, Rajendra K. (2005), ‘India, the European Union and Asian Regionalism’, Asia-Pacific Journal of EU Studies, 3 (1–2): 29–44.Google Scholar
Jain, Rajendra K. (2007), ‘The European Union and SAARC: The First Enlargement and After’, Asia-Pacific Journal of EU Studies, 5 (2): 177–92.Google Scholar
Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003), ‘India's Look East Policy: An Asianist Strategy in Perspective’, India Affairs, 2 (2): 35–68.Google Scholar
Kapur, Harish (2009), Foreign Policies of India's Prime Ministers, New Delhi: Lancer.Google Scholar
Kaul, Man Mohini (2006), ‘Regional Groupings: An Overview of BIMSTEC and MGC’, South Asian Survey, 13 (2): 314–22.Google Scholar
Kavalski, Emilian (2009), China and the Global Politics of Globalization, Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Kumar, Nagesh (2005), ‘Towards a Broader Asian Community: Agenda for the East Asia Summit’, RIS Discussion Papers RIS-DP #100, Research and Information System for the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries, New Delhi, November.Google Scholar
Kumar, Nagesh (2008), ‘Relevance and Challenges of Broader Regionalism in Asia’, India Quarterly, 64 (1): 79–105.Google Scholar
Mohan, C. Raja (2003), Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India's New Foreign Policy, New Delhi: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Mohan, C. Raja (2008), ‘Energy Security and Southeast Asia: India's Perspective’, in Sisodia, N. S. and Datta, Sreeradha (eds.), Changing Security Dynamics in Southeast Asia, New Delhi: Magnum Books.Google Scholar
Mohan, C. Raja (2009), ‘India's Role in Asian Security’, in Sisodia, N. S. and Krishnappa, V. (eds.), Global Power Shifts and Strategic Transition in Asia, New Delhi: Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses, pp. 33–56.Google Scholar
Mohan, C. Raja and Voll, Klaus Julian (2008), ‘India and China: Cooperation, Competition and Some Repercussions on the Western World’, in Wuelbers, Shazia Aziz (ed.), EU-India Relations: A Critique, New Delhi: Academic Foundation, pp. 53–76.Google Scholar
Moore, Thomas G. (2007), ‘China's Rise in Asia: Regional Cooperation and Grand Strategy’, in Dieter, Heribert (ed.), The Evolution of Regionalism in Asia: Economic and Security Issues, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mukherjee, Pranab (2005), ‘Valedictory Address at the Asian Security Conference, 29 January 2005’, in Sisodia, N. S. and Naidu, G. V. C. (eds.), Changing Security Dynamic in Eastern Asia: Focus on Japan, New Delhi: Promilla & Co.Google Scholar
Mukherjee, Pranab (2007), ‘Asian Economic Integration: Towards an Asian Economic Community’, speech at the High-Level Conference, 12 November, at www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Mukherjee, Pranab (2007a), Address by External Affairs Minister at the seminar on ‘Sub–Regionalism Approach to Regional Integration in South Asia: Prospects and Opportunities’, organized by Sikkim University, Gangtok, 19 December, at www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Mukherjee, Pranab (2008), Address by External Affairs Minister on ‘India and the Global Balance of Power’, on the occasion of the national launch of the Global India Foundation, 16 January, at www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Muni, S. D. (2000), ‘India in SAARC: A Reluctant Policy-Maker’, in Hettne, Bjorn, Inotai, Andras, and Sunkel, Osvaldo (eds.), National Perspectives on the New Regionalism in the South, Basingstoke: Macmillan, pp. 108–31.Google Scholar
Muni, S. D. and Rajshree, Jetly (2008), ‘SAARC: The Changing Dimensions’, UNU-CRIS Working Papers, W-2008/8.Google Scholar
Nabers, Dirk (2010), ‘Power, Leadership and Hegemony in International Politics’, in Flemes, Daniel (ed.), Regional Leadership in the Global System: Ideas, Interests, and Strategies of Regional Powers, Surrey: Ashgate, pp. 51–70.Google Scholar
Naidu, G. V. C. (2004), ‘Whither the Look East Policy: India and Southeast Asia’, Strategic Analysis, 28 (2): 331–46.Google Scholar
Nanda, Prakash (2003), Rediscovering Asia: Evolution of India's Look-East Policy, New Delhi: Lancer Publishers & Distributors.Google Scholar
Nehru, Jawaharlal (1958), ‘Inaugural speech at the Asian Relations Conference’, 23 March 1947. Nehru Speeches 1946–1949, New Delhi: Publications Division, 2nd edition.Google Scholar
Racine, Jean-Luc (2010), ‘Valedictory address at the closing of the Reseau Asie-Imasie's third Congress’, 28 September 2007, in Thomann, Bernard (ed.), Le Mondes de l'Asie et du Pacifique, Paris: Les Indes Sarvantes.Google Scholar
Radyuhin, Vladimir (2005), ‘India to join Shanghai Group as Observer’, The Hindu, 5 June.Google Scholar
Raghunath, K. (2007), ‘Overview and Conclusions’, in Rasgotra, M. K. (ed.), The New Asian Power Dynamic, New Delhi: Sage, pp. 271–95.Google Scholar
Rana, Kishan S. (2007), ‘Economic Diplomacy: The Experience of Developing Countries’, in Bayne, Nicholas and Woolcock, Stephen (eds.), The New Economic Diplomacy: Decision-making and Negotiation in International Economic Relations, 2nd edn, Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 201–20.Google Scholar
Ranganathan, C. V. (2001), ‘The Kunming Initiative’, South Asian Survey, 8 (1): 117–24.Google Scholar
Rao, P. V. (2005), ‘Sub-regional Strategies of Cooperation in ASEAN: The Indian Approach’, in Reddy, K. Raja (ed.), India and ASEAN: Foreign Policy Dimensions for the 21st Century, New Delhi: New Century Publications, pp. 152–70.Google Scholar
Ray, Jayanta Kumar and Chakrabarti, Shantanu (2007), ‘Institutionalization of the Regional Space in South Asia’, in Ray, Jayanta Kumar (ed.), Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World, Delhi: Pearson Education and New Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations, pp. 429–80.Google Scholar
Sachdeva, Gulshan (2004), ‘Indian Ocean Region: Present Economic Trends and Future Possibilities’, International Studies, 41 (1): 89–114.Google Scholar
Saint-Mezard, Isabelle (2003), ‘The Look East Policy: An Economic Perspective’, in Grare, Frederic and Mattoo, Amitabh (eds.), Beyond the Rhetoric: The Economics of India's Look East Policy, Vol. II, New Delhi: Manohar, pp. 21–43.Google Scholar
Saran, Shyam (2006), ‘Towards an Asian Economic Community’, address at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, 11 January, at www.meaindia.nic.in/mystart.php?id=530110736.Google Scholar
Schaffer, Teresita C. (2009), India and the United States: Reinventing Partnership, Washington, DC: Centre for Strategic and International Studies.Google Scholar
Scott, David (2009), ‘India's ‘Extended Neighborhood’ Concept: Power Projection for a Rising Power’, India Review, 8 (2): 107–43.Google Scholar
Sikri, Rajiv (2009), ‘India's “Look East” Policy’, Asia-Pacific Review, 16 (1): 131–45.Google Scholar
Singh, Natwar (2004), ‘Address by External Affairs Minister at the seminar on ‘Europe and Asia: Perspectives on the Emerging International Order’, organized by the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, 19 November, at www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Singh, Natwar (2005), Inaugural address on ‘Changing Security Dynamics in Eastern Asia’, at the Seventh Asian Security Conference organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, 27 January, at www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Sinha, Yashwant (2002), ‘India's Foreign Policy: Successes, Failures and Visions in the Changing World Order’, speech at the National Defence College, New Delhi, 18 November, www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Sinha, Yashwant (2003a), ‘Response by Foreign Minister to the debate on Demand for Grants of the Ministry of External Affairs in the Lok Sabha’, 23 April, www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Sinha, Yashwant (2003b), Inaugural Address by Sinha at the seminar on ‘South Asian Cooperation’, organized by the South Asian Centre for Policy Studies, Dhaka, 10 January, www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Sinha, Yashwant (2003c), Keynote address by Sinha on the inauguration of the South Asia Forum, 5 September, www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Sinha, Yashwant (2004), ‘12th SAARC Summit and Beyond’, Seventh Dinesh Singh Memorial Lecture, New Delhi, 3 February, www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Sridharan, Kripa (1996), The ASEAN Region in India's Foreign Policy, Aldershot: Dartmouth.Google Scholar
Tharoor, Shashi (1982), Reasons of State: Political Developments and India's Foreign Policy under Indira Gandhi, 1966–1977, New Delhi: Vikas.Google Scholar
Tharoor, Shashi (2010), 17th Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture on ‘India's Vision of Peace, Security and Development in South Asia’ by Minister of State for External Affairs, 11 January, www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Vajpayee, Atal Behari (2002), ‘India's Perspective on ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Region’, Annual Singapore Lecture, 9 April, www.meaindia.nic.in.Google Scholar
Yahya, Faizal (2005), ‘BIMSTEC and Emerging Patterns of Asian Regional and Interregional Cooperation’, Australian Journal of Political Science, 40 (3): 391–410.Google Scholar
Yong, Tan Tai and Mun, See Chak (2009), ‘The Evolution of India-ASEAN Relations’, India Review, 8 (1): 20–42.Google Scholar