Act East Policy gets new momentum as EAM Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval visit South East Asia simultaneously

New Delhi: India has given a new momentum to its Act East Policy under Modi 3.0 with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visiting Laos for East Asia & Asean meetings and NSA Ajit Doval attending the Bimstec NSA meet in Myanmar and visiting Vietnam simultaneously this week.These visits took place ahead of the Vietnamese PM’s trip to India next week. On Thursday, Doval attended the funeral of Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary in Hanoi and met the country’s top leadership also. In Myanmar, the NSA also engaged with the country’s leadership as India decided to beef up channels amid Chinese inroads.

With Asean not making a headway on the Myanmar issue, India has found Bimstec to be an appropriate platform to engage with the neighbouring country where China has made major inroads. India will host the Bimstec business summit here early August which will be followed by PM’s trip to Bangkok for Bimstec.

Besides meeting a slew of his counterparts from across SE Asia, including the Chinese foreign minister, Jaishankar addressed the India-Asean meet in the Laos capital on Friday where he referred to the grouping as the “cornerstone” of India’s Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision. He also highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s 12-point plan for the Asean and East Asia Summit. “The priority that India attaches to Asean and EAS platforms is evident from PM Modi visiting Jakarta last year on the very eve of our own G20 summit. He had announced a 12-point plan that has been largely acted upon,” said Jaishankar in his remarks.

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