Concept Note

India and ASEAN today are in the vortex of change as new strategic and economic trends shape the Asia-Pacific or the Indo-Pacific region. As a period of power transition marked by the rise of China and the economic dynamism of the Asia-Pacific region, it generated its own set of uncertainties and anxieties among countries of the region. This was evident in China’s assertion of territorial claims in the South China Sea and the East China Sea impacting Vietnam, Philippines and Japan respectively. China also asserted territorial claims in Ladakh on the unresolved India-China border. Another concurrent development has been the democratic transition in Myanmar which was heralded by the installation of a ‘civilian government’ in March 2011 and improved relations with the US (following President Obama’s visit in November 2011). It was under such circumstances that the United States under the Obama administration announced its ‘pivot’ or ‘rebalancing’ strategic shift to Asia-Pacific.

There are many potential conflict zones in Asia Pacific as nations have competing claims of sovereignty especially in the South China Sea besides internal fissures in many countries which threaten the peace. To keep abreast of the many challenges confronting the region, and to retain its centrality, ASEAN has set for itself the target of achieving an ASEAN Community (Political, Economic, and Socio-Cultural) by 2015. In the face of fundamental changes that are being effected in the political, economic and strategic domains, the challenge before ASEAN today is to shape the future or be shaped by it.

As the pace of change in the region gathered momentum, India’s Look-East policy that was initiated in 1991 has led to the maturing of relations with our eastern neighborhood. This yielded good results in political and economic terms. India’s dramatic economic liberalization in 1991 established the framework for enhanced India-ASEAN trade which has grown exponentially: it is now almost $80 billion. About 12 per cent of India’s exports and 9 per cent of India’s imports was on account of trade with ASEAN during 2011-12. The Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and ASEAN (October 2003) followed by the Trade in Goods Agreement (TIG) (signed in August 2009) between the two have created an enabling environment for the smooth development of multilateral as well as bilateral economic cooperation. With the TIG coming into force (2010), and the subsequent passing of the free trade agreement (FTA) on services and investments (December 2012) the India-ASEAN relationship is slated to grow faster than with rest of the world, due to factors such as a favourable demographic profile and growing market for goods and services. Thus, the Look East Policy, which has in its ambit a wide geographical expanse with a track record of over two decades, has proved to be mutually beneficial.

The Look East Policy itself is undergoing a transition. The over two decades’ experience of implementing the Look East policy has imparted valuable lessons along the way. There is a felt need for greater involvement of India’s Northeast in India’s Look East Policy. As the Indian Ocean issues gain prominence, greater dialogue on Indian Ocean is called for, in addition to greater focus on India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands. India’s common cultural ties with CLMV could profitably be grounded in contemporary concerns including the river systems, mountain ranges, agrarian patterns etc.

Given the context, disseminating information about India-ASEAN relationship becomes critical, and Delhi Dialogue has been actively working on that front for the past five years. Delhi Dialogue is a confluence of policy makers, corporate leaders and academia, which provides an opportunity to deliberate upon India’s Look East Policy in general and India’s relations with ASEAN and its member countries in particular. Established as a second-track dialogue, the conference was inaugurated in January 2009 by the current President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee, who was then the Minister for External Affairs. Delhi Dialogue has been supported by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, and FICCI amongst other institutions from India and the Southeast Asian region. So far, five annual conferences have been held, involving leaders from India and the ASEAN region, diplomatic community, think tanks and members from academia at large. The Sixth Delhi Dialogue is scheduled to be held in March 2014 and is being proudly organized by India’s premier think tank, IDSA.

Five editions of Delhi Dialogue have taken place so far. The themes covered in the past have included energy security; economic cooperation (including FTA); connectivity; India-ASEAN Roadmap in the new millennium; Nalanda University; non traditional security issues; evolving security architecture (ADMM Plus and EAS Process); networks of knowledge and science; CLMV countries and Northeast India. The ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit 2012 in New Delhi led to the adoption of the Vision Statement. This document charts out the future direction of ASEAN-India relations and significantly, elevates the ASEAN-India relationship to a strategic partnership. With this forming an important backdrop, the Delhi Dialogue VI provides a suitable opportunity to carry forward the ideas set forth in the Vision Statement besides the report of the ASEAN-India Eminent Persons Group.

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