Introduction: India–East Asia Relations in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Abstract

This article argues that India-East Asia relations are likely to enter a new phase in the post-COVID-19 era. The COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the decline of the post-Cold War liberal order that has so far promoted mutual trust and cooperation and underpinned peace and prosperity. This development has enormous implications for East Asia’s international relations. Indeed, significant changes appear to have occurred in the region during the pandemic. On the one hand, the pandemic has accelerated China's growing supremacy, but on the other hand, it has also enhanced its rivalry with all major liberal powers, including the US, India, Japan and Australia. Moreover, the geo-economic front has also witnessed drastic changes as pandemic-induced economic nationalism, economic retaliation, and supply chain restructuring have swept across the region. Hence, it is not premature to proclaim the post-pandemic East Asia will differ from the post-Cold War liberal era. That, in turn, raises important questions: How has the COVID-19 influenced India–East Asia relations? Will the post-COVID-19 era transform India's ties with East Asia? If so, how will this relationship change, and to what extent? This article, and this special issue more broadly, seek to answer these questions. In doing so, we first examine the major geopolitical and geo-economic issues between India and East Asia. Thereafter, we analyze India's relations with South Korea, China, Japan and ASEAN.