A better question is, ‘What took India (and its eastern neighbors) so long?’ Answers to that question could arguably begin with the spread of Islam, the decline of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms in Southeast Asia, repeated invasions of India from the northwest culminating in the Mughal conquest, and the Hindu dictum (found in 13th-century law digests) that crossing the ‘dark water’ would cause upper-class Hindus to lose caste. This combination could have been overcome, but what followed was worse.

The twentieth century nurtured a thicket of barriers between India and its eastern neighbors: World War I, the Great Depression, protectionism, the Pacific War, war with China, the Cold War, and 50 years of inward-looking economic policies adopted in the name of socialism. Starting in 1947, India gradually slipped into economic self-exile and lingered there until the ‘Look East’ policy was articulated in 1991. By that time India’s share of world trade was lower than it was at the time of independence half a century earlier.

All of these barriers dividing India from East Asia have melted away, liberating the forces of growth. But does that justify Indian membership in ‘East Asia?’

Here, I argue that for historical, cultural, political as well as for substantial economic reasons India belongs at the East Asian table. It is time to ‘re-centre’ our notions of Asia so that maps and other geographic concepts reflect India’s resurgent links with eastern neighbors. India’s political role in the Asian integration movement underscores this need.

Dr. Ellen L. Frost is a Visiting Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the National Defense University. Her latest book is Asia’s New Regionalism (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers; New Delhi: Viva Books; and Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 2008).

A longer version of this paper originally appeared in RIS‘ Discussion Paper series.