On Indo-Pacific, Delhi must match words, actions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s six-day tour of Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand came amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s commitment to a balanced Asian order, his talk of a possible US-China “G-2”, and the Pentagon’s decision to drop the Indo-Pacific label. It underlines Delhi’s intent to strengthen its independent role in Asia and its Indo-Pacific waters. It also marks a new phase in India’s post-Cold War engagement with the East. The celebrated “Look East” and “Act East” policies broadened India’s ties with Southeast and East Asia over the last three decades. Yet India has fallen well short of realising…