ABSTRACT
The National Democratic Alliance government that has been in power since 2014 has shown an active interest in India’s immediate neighbours – within and beyond the confines of the subcontinent. India’s relation with her eastern neighbourhood is believed to have received a new impetus after being catapulted from the incrementally maturing Look East Policy (LEP) to the newly conceived Act East Policy (AEP). The AEP is based on three robust areas indicated by the three ‘Cs’ – Commerce, Culture, and Connectivity. These three domains earmark the contours of India’s engagement with the East. Commerce and trade, as well as connectivity have remained the foci of attention in LEP, especially gaining momentum in AEP. Socio-cultural interactions between Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India are expected to not only broaden but also deepen the relations in terms of people-to-people contacts and historical and cultural links.
