Over the past decade, India has attempted to revitalise its engagement with Asia and the Pacific under the aegis of the Act East Policy. The policy has pursued enhanced economic and security cooperation, connectivity outreach, and infrastructure development. Exemplar initiatives are Sagarmala, Project Mausam, Cotton Routes, and Security and Growth for All in the Region. One of the rationales for this diplomatic initiative is China’s rising capacity, however, is it also being undertaken to re-establish India’s ties with its ancient trade partners. In the COVID-19 world, over reliance on Chinese supply chain networks is a significant concern and thus these initiatives are of increasing geostrategic importance. Hence this paper highlights the evolving Indian foreign policy approach towards China during the pandemic. It focuses on India’s connectivity initiatives in the Indo-Pacific and its engagement with “like-minded” partners. The significance of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, India’s growing alignment with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue partners and its increasing acceptance of the US-led initiatives are all considered.
Jagannath P. Panda (2020) studied this question.