Rediscovering Asia

Contrary to the commonly held view that India's look-east policy started in the 1990s, this book explains how India's engagement in the region really began centuries ago. In fact, India's preeminence as a major power in ancient times stemmed from its undoubted civilizational and economic influences in the Far East and Southeast Asia. If India's decline as a major global power started in the medieval period, it was because the rulers at that time, the Mughals, turned their attention from the seas. But after independence, India surrendered its influence in the region to China, since its policy of nonalignment came in the way of a realistic projection of power. In fact, for India, the period between 1950 and 1992 was a period of lost opportunities. It was after the end of the Cold War that India saw the merits of Rediscovering the Asia-Pacific. The book explains how India is traversing the course. It points out the challenges in the process and suggests the means to meet them.