The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a ten-nation group in Southeast Asia. It was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. These countries are located in the South-East Asian region. Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei are the countries involved. ASEAN’s motto is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community.” In 1992, India became a Sectoral Partner of ASEAN. Although the two share a good relationship, India can’t become a part of ASEAN group due to its location, which is South Asia.

India Act East Policy

• The India-ASEAN relations have become an important part of India’s foreign strategy
• The relationship has progressed since the early 1990s when India announced its “Look East Policy,” which aimed to improve economic, cultural and political relations with southeast Asian countries
• This led to India becoming an ASEAN Sectoral Partner in 1992, a Dialogue Partner in 1996, and a Summit-level Partner in 2002
• With the launch of the “India-ASEAN relation: India Act East policy” in 2014, the India-ASEAN Strategic Partnership gained a new strength
• It expressed India’s strong desire to expand its relationship with ASEAN members
• The Act East Policy emphasises the three Cs: Connectivity, Commerce, and Culture, as the priority for increased ASEAN-India interaction

Connectivity 

• Improving connectivity with ASEAN members is one of India’s and ASEAN Member States’ strategic goals. It includes both land and water connections
• The India-Myanmar-Thailand motorway is approaching completion, with upgrade in process. Other countries in the region, such as Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, are likely to join this roadway
• The Kaladan Multimodal Connectivity Project between India and Myanmar is another key connectivity project
• People-to-people Connectivity: To improve the connection between India and the ASEAN Community, several projects on people-to-people connectivity are held each year

Cooperation Between India and ASEAN

• Trade and Economic Cooperation: The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement was signed in 2009, and the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investments Agreement was concluded in 2015
• The ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement is now complete with the signature of these agreements
• The ASEAN group is India’s fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade valued at just over US $80 billion
• India’s trade with ASEAN accounts for around 10.6% of the country’s total commerce
• Investment: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows from ASEAN account for 18% of total FDI inflows into India
• India’s FDI outflows to ASEAN countries have totalled almost US $40 billion over the last decade
• Strategic Cooperation: India joined the ASEAN’s ‘sectoral discussion’ programme in 1992. The ‘Strategic Partnership’ Agreement was signed by the two in 2004
• In December 2012, the countries celebrated 20 years by changing their dialogue partnership to Strategic partnership at the Commemorative Summit Meeting
• One of the most important areas of collaboration between India and these countries is maritime cooperation
• Both countries benefit from an international order founded on rules. In this regard, the defence relationship between India and Vietnam is important
• New and Renewable Energy: Both sides recently agreed on the ‘New Delhi Declaration on ASEAN-India Renewable Energy Cooperation’
• In agriculture, ASEAN-India collaboration includes topics like food security, research, and development initiatives, information and technology exchange, agriculture and forestry-related industries, and human resource development
• Cultural Cooperation: As part of the commemorative celebrations of ASEAN-25-year India’s dialogue collaboration, the 4th International Dharma-Dhamma Conference was conducted in 2018 in Rajgir, Bihar’s Nalanda district

Issues in the ASEAN

• In terms of population and development, these countries are extremely varied. Singapore, for example, is highly developed and rich, whereas countries like Myanmar are still developing and have a long way to go
• Internal disagreements, such as the Rohingya refugee issue, have created conflicts within ASEAN, yet there is no system for resolving disputes
• When it comes to China, the association appears to be split. China’s aggressive moves have brought ASEAN closer together to some extent. Some countries, such as Cambodia, continue to support China
• In June 2020, ASEAN countries held a summit in which they publicly criticised China’s actions in the South China Sea, as well as their lack of transparency in the investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic
• In addition, the ASEAN countries did not get a decent deal on their trade agreements with China
• There is a trade imbalance that is not in India’s favour, and India’s efforts to negotiate a Services Agreement for a liberal Visa regime have been prevented
• India has announced that it will evaluate all of its free trade agreements. This has created a sense of unease
• India’s recent decision to withdraw from the RCEP has caused differences with ASEAN countries

Conclusion

India has had fairly good relations with ASEAN on all fronts, including strategic, environmental, economic as well as cultural. Both sides entered into a strategic partnership in 2012, which aimed to strengthen their alliance. There are some problems that India and ASEAN are facing in terms of trade, as well as India’s withdrawal from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). India needs to get involved in the RCEP and work out its disagreements with ASEAN on economic concerns so that it can get a better deal. It also has to be more involved in the region and give these countries additional security assurances.