Partnership in Progress

Context:  The recently held East Asia Summit (EAS)(represented by Indian Foreign Minister) signals that India will pursue bilateral pacts with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

Factors which signals India to move towards bilateral trade:

• Loss of Informality: While previously the EAS has informality built into it, now the virtual format has no scope for informal chatting.
• Ignored Chinese Conundrum: The main threat in the region is from China is rarely discussed openly in deference to ASEAN views, and a platform to reinforce strategic trust is thus lost.
  • Shift of focus on non-traditional threats: EAS has been looking more at non-traditional threats including illegal fishing, Humanitarian Assistance, Disaster Relief (HADR) and migration.
• More donor-donee relationship: rather than a true partnership of equals; For E.g. the Hanoi Declaration focuses on regional connectivity and narrowing of development gaps.
• Centrality of ASEAN under challenge: Mainly because China has dealt with the ASEAN countries individually rather than as a bloc, and so do the QUAD members.

Way Forward:

• Finding areas of interest with the ASEAN: India can play a substantial role in combining its interest with the changing focus of the EAS.
• India has a role in marine sustainability since it has dealt with illegal fishing and related issue.
• India could become a part of the proposed regional cooperation for the mobility of skilled labour and
• India has an important role envisaged in dealing with epidemics, both in its ability to provide capacity building and pharmaceuticals as part of resilient supply chains for medical supplies.
• Develop bilateral relations: The India-Japan-Australia and India-Australia-France agreements to pursue value chains in the region can move ahead with interested ASEAN countries.

Conclusion: Put priority to bilateral relationships with select ASEAN countries while maintaining its overall commitment to ASEAN as a community.