Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew's Mission India

by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray

When P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh launched India's "Look East" policy, it was only the first stage of the strategy to foster economic and security cooperation with the United States. But "Looking East" became an end in itself, and Singapore a valid destination, largely because of Lee Kuan Yew. He had been trying since the 1950s to persuade India's leaders that China would steal a march on them if they neglected domestic reform and ignored a region that India had influenced profoundly in ancient times. With his deep understanding of Indian life, close ties with India's leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru on, and sound grasp of realpolitik, Lee never tired of stressing that Asia would be "submerged" if India did not "emerge". Looking East to Look West recounts how India and Singapore rediscovered long-forgotten ties in the endeavour to create a new Asia. Singapore sponsored India's membership of regional institutions. India and Singapore broke diplomatic convention with unprecedented economic and defence agreements that are set to transform boundaries of trade and cooperation. This book traces the process from the earliest mention of Suvarnadbhumi in the Ramayana to Lee Kuan Yew's letter to Lal Bahadur Shastri within moments of declaring independence on 9 August 1965, from the Tata's pioneering industrial training venture in Singapore to Singapore's Information Technology Park in Bangalore. It explains the part Lee played in India's emergence as a player in the emerging Concert of Asia. History comes alive in these pages as Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, who had eight long conversations with Lee Kuan Yew, tells the story in the words of the main actors and with a wealth of anecdotes and personal details not available to many chroniclers.

402 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2009

Reviews

[Vidhya Nair · Rating 1 out of 5]

Useless book! Such an apologist. Seems like a commissioned book - to keep naysayers away from having the opinion that Spore foreign policy is disinterested in India. The writing reaks of someone who has enjoyed too much time with the elite, who-who's of Spore society and governance and is looking for a more permanent stint beyond this book. totally self serving. No intellectual or literary content. Trash it !! Tells you nothing about LKY. His name has just been used to give the author credibility.what a waste!

[Adarsh Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a detailed account of the history of India - Singapore relations in the post colonial era; it based on research that has come from speaking to a wide spectrum government officials and businessmen from both sides.In the 1960's Singapore was too small and weak a country for India to pay much attention to, regional politics and ideology kept India from playing a strong military role (sought after by the PM of Singapore himself !);yet today it serves as India's gateway to its Look East Policy and a source of much needed investment.

There is perhaps no nation with which India has had such a strong reversal in roles as that with Singapore,from being "dirtier than Bombay" it has emerged spectacularly to become a developed nation. An Indian reading this book would be saddened to hear how India, which was held in such high regard in South-East Asia is just a shadow of its former past. The book illustrates how ideology has given way to pragmatism in the present era and economic growth has taken center-stage . India was economically ruined by a host of wrong policies that failed in letting people realize their true potential and Singapore on the other hand prospered under a strong leader and an open market system. The author has clearly put in a great amount of effort and perhaps nothing is more reassuring than the 8 interviews that he had with Lee Kuan Yew, the man who transformed Singapore from Third World to First World.

[Eapen Chacko · Rating 2 out of 5]

It does go on a bit long, is a bit too self-congratulatory about the Singapore experiment, and sometimes condescending, but it is worth reading. His early relationships with Indian political figures made a lasting impression on LKY. He does, I think, put his finger on the endless Indian political fascination about yakking and blathering about politics, the British and corruption without doing anything. Especially at half price off the paperback, it's an insightful read.