Manipur as a hub for Look East

NITIN GOKHALE, Security and Strategic Studies editor at NDTV calls for fixing Manipur’s broken socio-political landscape even as New Delhi embarks on an enhanced Look East policy with Myanmar.
In his op ed in Gateway House, “Look to Manipur before looking East”,  he states that the economic blockades that have been imposed by the various communities in support of their socio-political demands had succeeded in choking off the supply chain of the already isolated region and creating artificial shortages of food items and petroleum products, crippling normal life for Manipuris while not achieving much politically.
He advocates a recognition of the importance of Manipur that shares about a 400km border with Myanmar as a key node in India’s Look East policy and the Manipuri border town of Moreh as a potential export center from India to ASEAN even as New Delhi seizes the moment to enhance trade and cultural ties with Naypyidaw. He states that both New Delhi and Imphal had to ensure a solution to the long-standing ethnic insurgencies and overcome apathy and indifference.

Look East Policy analyzed

SANDY GORDON of the Center of Excellence in Policing and Security at the Australian National University analyzes the evolution of Indo-ASEAN relationship from its tentative beginnings under India's 'Look East' policy to that of its current strategic partnership in the Indian Ocean, stating that this would be one of many partnerships that India would develop with other powers. In a workshop paper presented for the Australia India Institute, "India ‘Looks East’ as history", he states that India would do well to put in place labour and infrastructure policies to leverage its demographic dividend and as India developed, a strategic triangle between China, US and India was a distinct possibility

Bandung 55 comes to age!!

SHYAM SARAN, fellow at the Center for Policy Research and former Indian Foreign Secretary, calls upon India to make relations with Indonesia, a G-20 power and neighbor, the centrepiece of its Look East policy pointing to commonalities such as plural, diverse, secular democratic polity, cultural affinities buffeted by religious extremism. In an article in Business Standard, "Rising Indonesia", he states that it was incumbent upon India to upgrade its economic and security partnership with Indonesia beyond the current joint maritime patrols to grow naval capabilities and shape an open, inclusive and loosely structured security architecture in Asia.