India’s Act East Moves Forward: Pabitra Margherita to Visit Vietnam, Lao PDR and Palau
Three-nation visit highlights New Delhi’s expanding engagement across Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific
India is set to strengthen its engagement with Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific as Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles Pabitra Margherita undertakes an official visit to Vietnam, Lao PDR and Palau from August 26 to September 2, 2026, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
The visit comes at a time when India is placing renewed emphasis on its Act East Policy, ASEAN centrality and its wider Indo-Pacific vision. Engagement with Vietnam and Lao PDR provides an opportunity to deepen India’s relationship with Southeast Asia, while the inclusion of Palau highlights India’s growing outreach to Pacific Island countries.
Vietnam occupies an important place in India’s regional diplomacy. The two countries share a growing strategic partnership encompassing defence, maritime security, trade, energy, technology and connectivity. With the South China Sea remaining a major strategic concern, stronger India–Vietnam engagement also carries significance for the wider Indo-Pacific.
Lao PDR, meanwhile, is an important partner within ASEAN. India’s engagement with Laos supports New Delhi’s efforts to strengthen political, economic and cultural connections with the ASEAN region and advance its Act East Policy.
The visit to Palau adds another dimension. India’s relationship with Pacific Island countries has increasingly expanded beyond development assistance into climate cooperation, maritime security, capacity building and sustainable development. India’s outreach to the Pacific also complements its broader Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and Global South diplomacy.
The visit is therefore more than a series of bilateral engagements. It reflects India’s effort to build a wider network of partnerships across a region where economic opportunities, maritime security and geopolitical competition are increasingly interconnected.
For New Delhi, Southeast Asia and the Pacific are not distant theatres. They are increasingly important to India’s economic ambitions, maritime interests and vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
Margherita’s three-nation visit comes at a time when India’s foreign policy is seeking to combine Act East with strategic autonomy—deepening relationships without becoming aligned exclusively with any one major power.
As India expands its engagement from Vietnam and Laos to the Pacific Islands, the message is increasingly clear: India’s eastern horizon is no longer limited to ASEAN; it increasingly extends across the wider Indo-Pacific.
