Association of SouthEast Nations (ASEAN)

What is ASEAN 

• ASEAN officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of ten Southeast Asian member states that promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other Asian countries
• The major goal of ASEAN was to hasten economic growth and, as a result, social and cultural progress. A secondary goal was to foster regional peace and stability based on the rule of law and the UN charter’s principles

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Historical Background to the formation of ASEAN:

• Before and during the Second World War, this region of Asia suffered at the hands of European and Japanese colonialism
• Problems of nation-building, poverty and backwardness, along with the problem of selecting a camp during a bipolar world, were the challenges faced by the regional nations
• Attempts at Asian and Third World unity, like the Bandung Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement, both were ineffective in initiating the conventions for casual cooperation and interaction

Formation of ASEAN: 

• The Bangkok Declaration was signed in 1967, leading to the establishment of ASEAN 
• ASEAN was set up by five countries of this region — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand

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Objectives of ASEAN:

• Increase economic growth and through that ‘social progress and cultural development’ 
• Enhance regional peace and stability built on the rule of law and the principles of the United Nations Charter

Features of ASEAN:

• ASEAN countries have celebrated what has become known as the ‘ASEAN Way’, a type of interaction that is casual, non-confrontational and collaborative
• The respect for national sovereignty is censorious to the working of ASEAN
• ASEAN was and still remains as an economic alliance
• While the ASEAN region as a whole is a much smaller economy in comparison to the US, the EU, and Japan, its economy is increasing much faster than all these 
• ASEAN is the only regional association in Asia that gives a political forum where Asian countries and the major powers can converse about political and security concerns
• ASEAN’s power lies in its interconnection policies and consultation with member states, with dialogue associates, and with other non-regional organisations

Evolution of ASEAN:

• During the years, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar (Burma) and Cambodia attached to ASEAN taking its strength to ten 
• With some swiftly growing economies in the world, ASEAN expanded its aims beyond the economic and social spheres
• The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was established in 1994, to conduct collaboration of security and foreign policy
• In 2003, ASEAN agreed to establish an ASEAN Community comprising three pillars, namely:
  • The ASEAN Security Community: The ASEAN security community was based on the conviction that outstanding territorial disputes should not escalate into armed confrontation. By 2003, ASEAN had many agreements in place by which member states were assured to uphold peace, neutrality, cooperation, non-interference, and respect for national differences and sovereign rights
  • The ASEAN Economic Community: The objectives of the ASEAN Economic Community are to create a common market and production base within ASEAN states and to aid social and economic development in the region. The Economic Community would also like to improve the existing ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanism to settle economic disputes. ASEAN has concentrated on designing a Free Trade Area (FTA) for investment, labour, and services. The US and China have already moved quickly to negotiate FTAs with ASEAN
  • The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
• ASEAN is fastly growing into a very prime regional organisation
• Its Vision 2020 has described an outward-looking part for ASEAN in the international community
• This builds on the existing ASEAN policy to motivate negotiation over a dispute in the region
• Thus, ASEAN has mediated the end of the Cambodian conflict, the East Timor crisis, and meets yearly to talk-about East Asian cooperation
• The current economic strength of ASEAN, especially its economic relevance as a trading and investment partner to the increasing Asian economies such as India and China, makes this an attractive proposition 

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India and ASEAN:

• The relationship between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, has progressed at a rapid rate since its inception nearly a decade ago
• In 1992, India was invited to join ASEAN’s sectoral conversation
• During the fifth ASEAN Summit in Bangkok in 1995, ASEAN invited India to join the organisation as a full dialogue partner
•  In 1996, India also joined the ASEAN Regional Forum. Since 2002, India and ASEAN have held annual summits
• India and the ASEAN nations signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Thailand in August 2009. According to a press statement from the Ministry of Commerce and In industry, between 2013 and 2016, ASEAN member countries and India will lower import duties on more than 80% of traded products under the ASEAN-India FTA
• The FTA on products was accepted by Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand in January 2010
• The FTA is planned to be operationalized by the remaining seven ASEAN countries by August 2010
• India and ASEAN are now in the process of drafting agreements on services trade and investment
• The services talks are conducted on a request-offer basis, in which both parties submit requests for the opportunities they seek, and the receiving country responds with offers based on the requests