ASEAN-India Summit 2023: How two civilisational partners are strengthening cooperation in a transformative era

From 6 to 7 September, 2023, Indonesia hosted the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta City, which included the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit. The summit was co-chaired by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It centered on the theme “ASEAN Matters: Epicenter of Growth” and aimed to strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership while charting its future course. During the summit, leaders discussed various areas of cooperation, such as connectivity, digital transformation, trade, economic engagement, contemporary challenges, people-to-people contacts, and deepening strategic engagement. The summit also resulted in the adoption of two joint statements, one on maritime cooperation and the other on food security. Also, the leaders reaffirmed ASEAN’s centrality in the Indo-Pacific and highlighted the synergies between India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI) and ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

While ASEAN, which stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is an international organization comprising ten nations located in the Southeast Asian region, it was founded in 1967 with primary objectives that include fostering economic growth, advancing social progress, promoting cultural development, and maintaining peace and security within the area. The member countries of ASEAN include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Remarkably, ASEAN boasts a population exceeding 600 million inhabitants and spans an impressive landmass of 4.5 million square kilometers (1.7 million square miles). The organisation operates through three key pillars: the ASEAN Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. Their official motto, “One Vision, One Identity, One Community,” underscores their unwavering commitment to unity and cooperation.

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During the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 12-point proposal to strengthen strategic relations between India and ASEAN. Key components of Modi’s proposal included a commitment to bolster connectivity, promote trade, and propel digital transformation. Additionally, Mr Modi revealed plans to establish a multi-modal connectivity and economic corridor bridging Southeast Asia, India, West Asia, and Europe. Furthermore, he extended an offer to share India’s digital public infrastructure stack with ASEAN partners. Within the framework of this proposal, he called for a unified effort in combating terrorism, addressing the financing of terror activities, and countering cyber disinformation. He also stressed the need to raise issues relevant to the Global South in multilateral forums, underlining India’s commitment to a fair and just global order

Moreover, ASEAN and India are not only neighbours with both land and maritime boundaries but also hold deep civilisational ties collectively wield remarkable influence, accounting for 7 per cent of global GDP and over 26 per cent of the world’s population. In the post-pandemic era, their relationship has reached an unprecedented high, with bilateral trade surging from just US$ 9 billion during their inaugural summit in 2002 to an anticipated milestone of over US$ 150 billion in 2023.

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Also, PM Modi’s address to the 18th East Asia Summit, a prominent forum in the Indo-Pacific region dedicated to security and defence matters, underscored the importance of joint efforts to safeguard all nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. He further advocated for an effective code of conduct in the South China Sea, in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Modi’s comments on the South China Sea issue also coincided with heightened global attention to China’s territorial claims in the region, particularly as depicted in its latest “standard map of China”. These remarks consider growing global concerns regarding China’s military assertiveness and territorial claims in the South China Sea. However, he reiterated the conviction that the current era should be defined by dialogue and diplomacy, not conflict or war, in addressing geopolitical disputes. This stance aligns with the international community’s call for peaceful resolution mechanisms.

The writer is a Senior Research Fellow and Doctoral Candidate at the Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._

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