A New Security Environment and India’s Evolving Asia-Pacific Strategy

India's ties to the Asia-Pacific region have attained strategic level engagement. Its political, economic and military overtures signify trans-regional aspirations. The power equation in Asia-Pacific revolves around China's growth and the Washington's ‘rebalancing' strategies. India's alliance with the United States (US) has enabled it to become part of various US-led regional organisations; and its deepening military and strategic partnership with Japan and Australia point to a likely role in the region's security architecture. In this backdrop, the subject paper looks at India's ‘Look East' and ‘Act East' policies. It analyses whether geopolitical developments, given the new ‘Indo-Pacific' mantra and China's naval posture, have engendered competitive tendencies and if India will emerge as a balancer in regional politics.