How ASEAN has become a priority in PM Modi’s third term

October 28, 2024
Posted by: Ambassador Gurjit Singh
Category: ASEAN & ARF

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the Asian century belongs to India and ASEAN during his Laos visit showcases the importance the 10-nation grouping has for New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a successful visit to Laos for the East Asia Summit (EAS) and India-ASEAN Summit earlier this month, on October 10-11. It was the 11th time that PM Modi participated in these summits, rarely missing an occasion. This time, it was even more special because it was the 10th anniversary of the enunciation of the Act East Policy (AEP) by Modi at his first such summits in Naypi Raw, Myanmar, in 2014. In the last decade, while the AEP has flowered, much of the regional situation has altered, mainly because of Chinese aggressive intent.

During this period, India has brought to fruition several of its initiatives under the AEP through the medium of the EAS. The Nalanda University, which has been an EAS construct, now has its own campus. Modi invited EAS members to come and see the revival of Nalanda and its new campus. The heads of higher education conclave to be held there will accentuate the educational and people-to-people contacts that India holds dear. The India-ASEAN network of universities is also anchored at Nalanda.

Also, within the implementation of the AEP, the Indo Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) was introduced by India at the EAS in 2019. Subsequently, India and ASEAN signed a joint statement on cooperation between the IPOI and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo Pacific (AOIP), and these two mutually march together in search of a free, open, inclusive, prosperous, and rules-based Indo-Pacific, which is crucial for peace and progress in the region.

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The Act East Policy has a wider regional horizon, and it is now often said that ASEAN is the core of the AEP, just as India’s relationship with Africa is the core of its approach to the Global South. This covers all three strategic pillars of collaborating with ASEAN. The AEP has sought, through the EAS and the India-ASEAN summit, to pursue peace and security as well as prosperity, with a strong emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy.

ASEAN is certainly being taken seriously, particularly this year. Already before Modi’s Laos visit, he had visited Singapore and Brunei, while the Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Malaysia visited India. The President visited Timor-Leste earlier this year, which will be the 11th member of ASEAN.

On the sidelines of the summits in Laos, PM Modi met the leadership of Laos and the new PM of Thailand, where the BIMSTEC Summit is due. A visit by the Philippines President to India is perhaps due, and once the new president of Indonesia takes over, he will be engaged this year.

In 2023, Modi made a special effort to visit Jakarta for barely a day on the eve of the G20 summit to ensure his continuous participation in the EAS and the India-ASEAN summits. On that occasion, he had laid out a 12-point program for further expansion of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) between India and ASEAN. Now he has laid out 10 additional points, most of which focus on the socio-cultural pillar of collaboration with ASEAN.

Given the rising boom in tourism and that seven countries of ASEAN have direct flights to India, 2025 was proposed as the ASEAN-India year of tourism, for which India would contribute up to $5 million. The commemoration of the decade of the AEP envisages interaction among artists, youth, entrepreneurs, and think tanks to further people-to-people relations.

An annual women scientists’ conclave is proposed, and scholarships for students from ASEAN countries to Nalanda doubled. Besides the scholarships for the IITs, scholarships for ASEAN students to attend agriculture universities in India will start soon. Health resilience being a major focus of the further development of the India-ASEAN partnership, a new health ministers meeting is likely to be institutionalised. ASEAN countries are invited to India’s National Cancer Grid conference.

Providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief has been among the most important aspects between India and ASEAN. An allocation of $5 million from the India-ASEAN fund has been promised so that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA) can work together to promote disaster resilience. Similarly, given the recent cases of a large number of Indians and those of other nationalities being trapped in cybercrime activity in some of the unpoliced areas of some ASEAN countries, digital and cyber resilience and cyber policy dialogue is being pursued.

Green hydrogen exchanges among experts have been proposed by Modi, who also emphasised the early conclusion of the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement.

The Modi proposals for enhancing the India-ASEAN partnership took the ASEAN summit theme, ‘enhancing connectivity and resilience’, and added immense depth to it. Now it is for ASEAN to respond positively and to take these ideas forward. In many cases, ASEAN has been lacking in appropriate responses to such proposals.

For instance, despite a common agenda on many of these issues of sustainability, climate change, and the like, few ASEAN countries join the International Solar Alliance, the CDRI, the Biofuels Alliance, or the Big Cat Alliance, even though many of them could directly engage with the subjects of these. It is difficult to explain why ASEAN keeps away from these initiatives, but this time, Modi has put the subject ahead of the institution and sought greater institutionalisation between India and ASEAN rather than ask ASEAN to join Indian global initiatives.

India now adds complementary detailed statements to its main India ASEAN statement. There was an ASEAN-India statement for advancing digital transformation, which is a major focus of the next steps in the India-ASEAN partnership. This particularly focuses on FinTech and innovation as vital drivers for the economic partnership and brings forth issues of cyber security, AI, capacity building, and knowledge sharing.

Similarly, the joint statement on strengthening the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, keeping in view the AOIP and the AEP, is a significant statement. Modi said at the summit, and this statement reiterates that the free and open Indo-Pacific concept should be rigorously applied to the South China Sea. Not only should the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) be emphasised as always, but the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation must be implemented as well. This is to prevent China from converting the SCS into its own private lake. These two statements reiterate some of the aspects of the corollary statements adopted in 2023, which include the joint statement on maritime cooperation and food security.

India’s consistent support for the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct brings solace to ASEAN, but they are yet not able to budge China. Modi’s statement that the Asian century belongs to India and ASEAN was a clear reference to the fact that this is not an exclusively Chinese century, and there are others who have ambitions to fulfil for their own population and their development.

By more vigorous engagement through the AEP and related avenues, India promises ASEAN a functional partnership with strategic overtones.

The author is a former ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia, ASEAN and the African Union. He tweets @AmbGurjitSingh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author.

How ASEAN has become a priority in PM Modi’s third term

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