A new initiative on maritime security between India and the South East Asian countries could be a key outcome of the summit between the two sides in Indonesia, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Prime Minister leaves for Indonesia tonight to attend the India-ASEAN summit on September 7. It will be followed by the East Asia summit on the same day.
The Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, has been keen on Modi’s participation at the two summits and scheduled them to allow the Indian Prime Minister to attend the meetings and return to New Delhi well in time for the G20 summit in New Delhi.
The 10-member ASEAN is crucial to India’s Act East policy and central to its Indo-Pacific strategy where China’s looming presence has often been a cause of unease for countries in the region.
The fact that the Prime Minister is leaving for Indonesia on the eve of the G20 summit under India’s presidency in New Delhi indicates the importance ASEAN enjoys in India’s scheme of things.
ASEAN was created in 1967, at the height of the Cold War, under America’s initiative with five of its close Asian allies for economic cooperation and security.
Today, it has expanded to a 10-member group that includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Despite its diversity, ASEAN has turned out to be one of the most well-integrated trade blocs in the world. It has a collective GDP of $ 3.66 trillion.
The East Asia Summit that follows the ASEAN summit has 18 members—the 10 ASEAN members plus eight other countries - Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Russia and the United States, where regional and global security issues are discussed among the countries.
This will be the first ASEAN-India summit since the two sides elevated their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022.
The two sides have been cooperating with each other on maritime security, cyber security, digital economy and other areas.
Trade and investment are two other key areas of cooperation between the two sides.
An ASEAN-India defence ministers’ meeting was held in November last year and the two sides also held their first maritime exercise in May this year.
Saurabh Kumar, the Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry who looks after the region said, tomorrow’s summit will be an opportunity for the leadership to review the progress in their relations and suggest ways to further deepen and strengthen their cooperation.
He added that the relationship is a central pillar of India’s Act East policy and the vision for the wider Indo-Pacific.
India's focus has been on increasing connectivity “in the physical, digital and economic domains.”
India and Indonesia launched direct flights through two private airlines in August.
India has also started direct flights to Vietnam.
After the successful linking of the real-time cross-border payment system of India and Singapore in February, India is looking at ways to expand this to other ASEAN countries, Kumar said.
The India-ASEAN trade was worth $ 131.5 billion in 2022-23. But it is far below the potential and is currently heavily tilted towards ASEAN countries.
The trade gap between the two sides is over $ 43 billion.
The two sides have begun a review of their trade in goods, to make it more diversified and address the existing asymmetries. The review is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
India is also keen to enhance and expand its investment in the ASEAN region which is around $ 55.5 billion. But it has been Singapore-centric which accounts for $ 51 billion in Indian investment.
The ASEAN and East Asia Summits traditionally allow bilateral meetings on the side-lines, among participating countries. But the Prime Minister will not have any such interactions this time.
His visit to Indonesia will be brief as he is scheduled to return to India by Thursday night for bilateral meetings that are listed before the G20 summit begins on September 9.
India’s engagement with the ASEAN began in 1992 as a sectoral partner and subsequently grew to reach a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022.
A number of important countries like Japan, Australia, South Korea and both Russia and the US are present in the region but China remains the dominant power.
China is ASEAN's largest trading partner with a volume of trade worth $ 970 billion and also its largest investor at $ 340 billion, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said.
The South East Asian countries are wary of China’s growing footprint and their over-dependence on Beijing has prevented the group from taking any decision that does not meet Chinese approval.
The ASEAN members are keen not to upset the Chinese applecart but want other regional powers such as India, Australia, Japan and South Korea and the US — despite questions about Washington’s reduced interest in the region, to be more active as a counter-balance to China.
As India and other countries are keen on keeping an “open, free and inclusive Indo-Pacific” in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in the region, the ASEAN’s centrality to keep the area stable and peaceful will become more urgent in the coming days.
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