– By Apoorva Singh
The year 2022 is landmark year as India- ASEAN commemorates 30 years of partnership, a profound and long history of India’s social, political and economic ties with South-east Asia dates back more than 2,000 years , while India has been underscoring a central role in the regional order since last three decades with ‘Look East’ policy in the Indo-Pacific forged under PV Narshima Rao’s government in 1991. Early trade between India and nations like Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand is notable. Southeast Asian societies, customs and languages have significantly been influenced through ancient linkages with India being an anchor for stability during the colonial era. Traces of Indic Hindu-Buddhist monuments like the Angkor Temple Complex near Siem Reap in Cambodia, the Borobudur and Prambanan temples near Yogyakarta in Indonesia, and the ancient candis in Kedah in Malaysia are historically evident. The Indian classical text Ramayana has influence over several Southeast Asian societies , including Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. With Singapore’s Malay name Singapura, derived from Sanskrit meaning “lion city”.
Besides conventional ties, shared vulnerabilities and future prospects bind India- ASEAN nations into the domain of economy, politics, culture, environment and security due to the unravelling challenges in the Indo-pacific. However, India- ASEAN relations witnessed ideological differences soon after independence as a pro-Soviet stance emerged in India’s foreign policy in the 1970s with India being a staunch supporter of Non-Aligned Movement earlier, but soon the relations became pragmatic by the end of the cold war ever since the launching of India’s Look East policy, integration of India and ASEAN relation has fostered through mutual understanding. For the last 30 years both the sides have supported Asean community to build and strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership in politics, security, economic matters and development through Asean-led mechanisms like the East Asia Summit, and Asean Regional Forum. Geostrategic stability has been overwhelming in the Indo-Pacific in shaping the dynamics of India-ASEAN strategic cooperation lately.
A NEW THEATER OF POLITICS
A tectonic shift towards the Indo-Pacific has been witnessed in 21st century global politics with great power rivalry amongst nations within and outside the region. As the new field of power politics, the region has undergone major policy changes, new framework, and several adaptations by many contesting countries and regional groupings. While, New Delhi’s landmark intervention – Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI) proposed at the 14th East Asia Summit in 2019 is a critical point in propelling rules-based Indo-pacific against the backdrop of China’s assertiveness in the region. India- robust engagement between India and ASEAN based on common strategic interests in politico-economic and sociocultural frontiers while ensuring security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Two sides have agreed upon convergence in their vision to build a free, open, inclusive and ASEAN leaders have welcomed the Asean-India joint statement on cooperation towards Asean outlook on the Indo-Pacific for peace, stability and progress in the region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in last year’s virtual summit stressed on the significance of strengthening ties between India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and Asean’s outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) to ensure freedom in accordance with international order. The newly adopted Plan of Action (2021-2025) in 2020 has added momentum to the tactic enunciated by IPOI in bringing India and ASEAN members closer, cooperating as regular partners in a strategic and vital way.
The Plan of Action allows India and ASEAN to explore and identify issues of mutual concern and develop mechanisms towards ensuring peace, security and unity in the Indo-Pacific region. The plan is also designed to boost trade and investment, economic cooperation, energy security, information and communication technology collaboration, connectivity and people-to-people linkage between ASEAN and India. With acceleration in strategic plan to ensure maritime security, defense and intelligence sharing, confidence building along with counterterrorism and cybersecurity measures. While several ASEAN nations have maritime and territorial disputes with China in the Southeast Asia region, it becomes a shared ground of concern to consolidate IPOI and AOIP for India and ASEAN to maintain a free, secure and stable Indo-pacific.
The Plan of Action further expands on cooperation between ASEAN and India in bilateral and multilateral dimensions to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded trade and commerce, and peace in outstanding maritime claims in accordance with international order, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
WAY AHEAD:- THE 30 STEPS
As India – ASEAN marks its 30th anniversary this year, the two sides are aimed at strengthening relations and goodwill among people with integration, openness and peace to embrace free maritime navigation and multilateralism in the Indo-pacific. During the unprecedented arduous times of Covid-19 pandemic the two sides have collaborated on various developmental fronts while India being the prompt supplier of vaccines and other pharmaceutical aids to southeast asian nations. India donated US$1 million to the ASEAN Covid-19 response fund and medical aid of $200,000, as the second largest pharmaceutical producer in the region, to the ASEAN humanitarian assistance programme in Myanmar. Trade between Southeast Asia and India has substantially increased with bilateral trade value of $86 billion in 2020, up from $77 billion in 2019 while in 2022 India is expected to export $46 billion worth of goods to Southeast Asia with a global export target of $400 billion .
India-ASEAN during the business summit have agreed to build a resilient and reliable supply chain of development with global value chains in a state of flux, to encourage investment and trade under AIFTA. The governments of both sides have also taken up measures like ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to review trade. The two regions will also expand collaboration on framing of healthcare policies, medical tourism, digital health and pharma manufacturing. India and ASEAN nations have envisaged a work plan titled India-ASEAN Digital Work Plan 2022 to increase digital connectivity and transformation during the second ASEAN Digital Ministers meeting virtually. Under this digitisation plan the two sides will jointly work upon developing a system to combat the use of stolen and counterfeit mobile handsets, a WiFi access network interface for nationwide public internet, capacity building and intelligence sharing in evolving areas of information and communication technology like 5G and cyber forensic and to work collectively on counterrorism issues. India-ASEAN is likely to undertake several projects in future to enhance road, air and maritime connectivity between India and ASEAN. In order to strengthen the people to people and institutional linkages, several think tanks have joined hands to prepare for the 30th anniversary by launching the first joint programme entitled ASEAN-India Development Partnership Programme (AIDPP).
CONCLUSION
As India celebrates 75 years of independence it aims to collaborate with other like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region to cooperate on a rules-based multipolar regional order and prevent hegemony in the territory or ocean. Despite cooperation in the past 30 years, the unfolding geostrategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific remain dynamic thereby leaving scope of immense progress between India-ASEAN relations by accelerating domestic economy, increasing connectivity within the region, reforming policies and boosting engagement with regional forums to shape the Indo-pacific. It is imperative that India-ASEAN’s friendship year will be observed with future prospects in the contemporary domains to cooperate on a plethora of activities.
The silver jubilee is expected to embrace potential engagement between India and ASEAN countries to create an effective roadmap to address unralleveling challenges critical to China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. This milestone will transerve a path for two sides to architect their interests, to foster their relations in the long-run, ensuring peace, stability, safety, security, development, and prosperity in the region and beyond.
References :
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/prime-minister-narendra-modi-addresses-india-asean-summit-through-video-conference/article37206696.ece ( 2021, October 28) The Hindu
https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/34425/ASEANIndia_Joint_Statement_on_Cooperation_on_the_ASEAN_Outlook_on_the_IndoPacific_for_Peace_Stability_and_Prosperity_in_the_Region Ministry of External Affairs
Chandrajit Banerjee ( 2021 November, 2021)
https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2021/nov/05/unleashing-the-indo-asean-growth-potential-2379760.html The New Indian Express
https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2021/10/28/india-asean-issue-joint-statement-on-indo-pacific.html (2021, November 28) The Week
Ong Yang, https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2234731/asean-india-relationship-deepens (2021, December 20) Bangkok Post
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury (2021, August 24)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/indian-asean-think-tanks-join-hands-to-prepare-for-30th-anniversary-celebrations/articleshow/85589456.cms The Economics Times
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The foreign ministry
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