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ASEAN and India's Act East
4.1 ASEAN Overview
Founding and Membership
ASEAN was founded on 8 August 1967 via the Bangkok Declaration. The 5 founding members were Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It later expanded to 10 members; Timor-Leste is an observer seeking membership.
ASEAN Way — core principles:
- Consensus-based decision-making (no majority voting)
- Non-interference in internal affairs
- Peaceful resolution of disputes
- Regional resilience (community-level solidarity)
ASEAN Structures and Forums
- ASEAN Summit (annual): Heads of government
- ASEAN+3: ASEAN + China, Japan, South Korea
- East Asia Summit (EAS): 18 members including India, US, Russia, Australia
- ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF): Security dialogue; 27 members including India
- ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+): Defence cooperation
ASEAN Community (2015): Three pillars — ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
4.2 India-ASEAN Relations
The India-ASEAN relationship was elevated to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. India-ASEAN FTA (goods) has been in force since 2010; services and investment FTA since 2015. A review of the goods FTA was initiated in 2023 — India wants to fix the trade imbalance.
Trade and connectivity:
- Total trade: $130+ billion (2023) — India exports engineering goods, pharma, cotton; imports electronics and machinery
- BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative): Alternative South-Southeast Asia platform linking India with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand
- Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC): India + 5 ASEAN Mekong states (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar) for tourism, culture, education