India’s and China’s Economic Standing in Asia
Although entwined with other motivations, the primary objective of the Look East Policy was and remains economic. Indian policy makers felt the need to bridge the gap caused by China’s twelve years year head start in liberalizing its economy or risk being marginalized in Asia. The two countries choose, however, radically different strategies:, China becoming became in the process a massive exporter of manufactured goods while India while India specializedspecialized in high-skill service exports, alongside manufactures but failing failed to expand the latter as much as expected. Foreign direct investment played a key role in the strategies of both countries, leading to substantial differences in export output. Because it was meant to develop an export strategy, FDI gave China a decisive advantage in the region. In India, FDI essentially targeted the domestic market and its contribution to manufactured product exports remained limited. China rapidly emerged as the pivot of the Asian export platform, a position that also enhanced its political influence across Asia.