Why Pacific region is gaining importance in India’s Foreign Policy?
- Chinese increased presence in the Indian Ocean calls for Indian presence in the Pacific Ocean to counter the balance of power.
- Free trade agreements like Trans-Pacific Partnership and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Free Trade Area- that provides majority of global trade are Pacific centric
- Indian Diaspora across various islands in the region
- Transformation of “Look East” into “Act East”
- The region remains easily accessible to American continent and even countries like Japan , Australia with whom India shares its special bonds
- The Pacific region has very high market potential for Indian exports such as engineering services, ICT services and FMCG items etc