India’s Eastward Engagement: From Antiquity to Act East Policy presents India’s engagement with its extended eastern neighbours from ancient times to the present. It argues that this engagement has been long rooted in India’s geographical location, its civilizational evolution and historical transformations. The book critically examines all the important phases—Nehru and Post-Nehru periods, and Look East and Act East policies. It exposes the widely entertained myths about India’s eastward engagement and also underlines the prospective directions in which the Act East Policy may unfold in the years to come.
Mishra, Rahul: - Rahul Mishra is a Senior Lecturer at the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant at the Foreign Service Institute, MEA, India. Dr Mishra worked as a research fellow with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and as a researcher at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi, for eight years. Recipient of the 2015 Asia Fellowship of the East-West Center in Washington, DC, he was a visiting research fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Prior to that, he was affiliated with the National University of Singapore. Dr Mishra is a recipient of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia fellowship (2007-2008), and Government of Korea fellowship (2016).
He has published widely, and he regularly contributes articles in leading journals, magazines and newspapers. He has been interviewed by the BBC, Channel NewsAsia, Phoenix TV, DD News, LS TV, RS TV, CCTV, Deutsche Welle and ABC Radio on Indo-Pacific affairs. He has co-edited BCIM Economic Corridor: The Road Ahead (2015), The Peacock and the Garuda: An Overview of India-Indonesia Relations (2015) and Integrating North East in India's Act East Policy (2017). He is the author of One Belt, One Road: Mapping China's Strategy for Shaping the International Order (2019).
Muni, S. D.: - S. D. Muni is Professor Emeritus at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He is also a member of the Executive Council of the Institute for Defence and Strategic Analyses, New Delhi. He taught and conducted/guided research at JNU, New Delhi; National University of Singapore, Singapore; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; and Rajasthan University, Jaipur. He was India's Special Envoy for Southeast Asian Countries for the UN Security Council Reforms (2005-2006) and also served as India's Ambassador (1997-1999) to Lao People's Democratic Republic. He was nominated to the first-ever constituted National Security Advisory Board of India in 1990-1991. Professor Muni also addressed the UN Special Committee on Indian Ocean in Socci (former Soviet Union). In 2005, the Sri Lankan president bestowed him with the 'Sri Lanka Ratna', the country's highest national award for a foreigner. Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), honoured him in 2014 with the 'Life Time Achievement Award' in South and Southeast Asian Studies.
Author and editor of about 30 books and monographs, Professor Muni has published nearly 250 articles and research papers in Indian and international journals. He has extensively travelled on academic assignments and has had associations with several international think tanks and research centres in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
