Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc, had virtually co-chaired the 17th ASEAN-India Summit. India contribution of USD 1 million to COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund; issues of common interest and concern for the participating countries including the South China Sea and terrorism, were discussed, with both sides noting the importance of promoting a rules-based order in the region. India reiterated offer of US$ 1 billion Line of Credit to support ASEAN connectivity and the adoption of the new ASEAN-India Plan of Action for 2021-2025.

During the recent East Asia Summit (Since 2005), a premier forum in the Asia-Pacific region dealing with issues relating to security and defence, apart from the 10 ASEAN member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Russia; India pitched for promoting a rules-based order in the region including through upholding adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). The summit issued a declaration and also adopted four statements on marine sustainability; epidemics prevention and response; women, peace and security; and steady growth of regional economy. In 2019, India proposed setting up of the Indo-Pacific Ocean’s Initiative (IPOI) to conserve and sustainably use the maritime domain and to make meaningful efforts to create a safe and secure maritime domain.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

Strategic Partnership of India and ASEAN is based on the shared historical, geographical and cultural heritage, adding that ASEAN has been the core of India’s Act East Policy from the very beginning.   ASEAN comprises of Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. 

    Since the early 1990s and India’s march towards economic liberalisation resulted in the ‘Look East Policy’. The Look East Policy has today matured into a dynamic and action oriented Act East Policy. India is also an active participant in several regional forums like the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting + (ADMM+) and Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF).      

      India became a Sectoral Partner of the ASEAN in 1992, Dialogue Partner in 1996 and Summit Level Partner in 2002 and   the relationship up-graded of into a Strategic Partnership in 2012 .In 2017, ASEAN and India commemorated the 25th Anniversary of their Dialogue Relations.

India-ASEAN trade and investment relations have been growing steadily, with ASEAN being India’s fourth largest trading partner. The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) entered into force on 1 January 2010. the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreements entered into force on 1 July 2015.

The India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway Project and its extension to Laos and Cambodia was one of ongoing projects to achieve greater ASEAN-India physical connectivity and is aimed to connect the ASEAN Highway Network with the highway system in eastern India. and has begun constructing a road linking the Indian state of Mizoram with the Sittwe port in Myanamar through the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project. Plans for a railway link between New Delhi in India to Hanoi in Vietnam are also on the anvil.

India is taking strides to ramp up its cooperation with ASEAN countries in maritime engagement in the Indo-Pacific, especially through a series of bilateral and multilateral naval exercises.(It did with Indonesia and Vietnam)

IMPORTANCE OF ASEAN FOR INDIA

Both India and ASEAN aim to establish a rules-based security architecture for peaceful development in the region places ASEAN at the centre of its Indo-Pacific vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region.

The main focus of the Act East policy focusing on engagement not just with Southeast Asian countries but also those in the Pacific and on enhancing connectivity between India and South East Asia, through linkages between India’s northeastern region and countries like Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

CONSTRAINTS

 Delays in completion of infrastructure projects aimed at increasing connectivity hamper potential for better trade between India and ASEAN as well as impact the energy and momentum to take ties forward; Delay in the trilateral India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) highway,and the Kaladan project, while a major portion of the construction is over, the road between Paletwa and Zorinpui is behind schedule

Another thorny issue has been the trade imbalance between India and ASEAN, which remains skewed in ASEAN’s favor