THE SINO-INDIAN RELATIONSHIP IN A REGIONAL CONTEXT: THE 'SECURITIZATION' OF CHINA IN 'STRATEGIC ELITE' DISCOURSE OF INDIA'S 'LOOK EAST' POLICY

Abstract

This study examines the role of the ‘China factor’ – defined as China’s regional role, which has been interpreted through the prism of the Sino-Indian relationship – in driving and sustaining India’s post-Cold War engagement with Southeast Asia. It aims to establish if China has been raised as a priority in discourses of India’s 'Look East' Policy and how this has varied over time from the origins of the policy to the most recent phase of the renamed ‘Act East’ Policy since 2014. In adopting a constructivist approach, this study deconstructs official narratives of the 'Look East'/ 'Act East' policy through analysis of broader strategic elite discourses. In doing so, it addresses the distinction between what policymakers signal in their official statements and their true or underlying motivations, concluding that it is often what is not said that reveals more about real foreign policy intentions.