Standing on the banks of the Irrawaddy in Myanmar or Mekong in Laos, or gazing at the stupendous human feat of Angkor Wat in Cambodia or Borobudur in Indonesia, I have often marvelled at the tide of history of India's association with Southeast Asia over the millennia, blending with each other in a synthesis of thoughts and values, lending assurance and strength to each other. The march of time has seen many vicissitudes. Today, there are new circumstances. Their neglect will be only at the cost of mutual understanding and good neighbourliness. In a world shrunken by communications, the need for knowledge with respect to one another has never been greater.

From 1980 till the present, I spent nearly eight years in Myanmar (then Burma), Indonesia and Singapore and six years being closely associated with Southeast Asian affairs in the Indian Foreign Office. I was privileged to watch closely India's evolving “Look East” policy. The interplay of geopolitical and geoeconomic forces, having a profound effect on both India and Southeast Asia like never before in recent history, was an extraordinary development. It was an exciting time. The transformation of India's outlook to Southeast Asia and vice versa was just beginning to take shape. Prior to that I had often sensed a remoteness by Indians and Southeast Asians alike vis-à-vis each other. I wondered what was that which made them feel mutually “uncomfortable” or “insecure”. Surely the foundations on which the traditional relationship going back for centuries was based were not that weak. I believed there ought to be greater understanding and confidence given the vast commonalities that both seemed to share. Could they not seek cooperative security between them? This led me to look deeper into the spectrum of areas and issues where they converged and diverged.

The story of closer India–Southeast Asia relations, in my view, has just begun. One positive aspect about it is that both India and Southeast Asia are on a learning curve. The two can and should learn a great deal from each other, be it the effects of globalization, social progress, democratization, the creation of infrastructure or the management of traditional and non-traditional security threats.