India-ASEAN Relations

The changes in the global environment such as the demise of socialist system initiation of globalization declining position of international organization and reduction in importance of forums like NAM have made it imperative for India to review its old foreign policy nuances. For long India hardly regarded the countries of Southeast Asia and South Pacific as priority areas despite the latters cultural political economic and strategic significance. The long spell of mutual alienation understandably gave way to mutual distrust and suspicion. This dark period in Indias relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and South Pacific was however brought to an end following the reshaping and reorientation of Indias foreign policy manifest in the vigorous pursuit of Look East policy it was Prime Minister Narasimha Rao who concentrated on forging links and enhancing cultural economic political and strategic cooperation with Southeast Asia and transformed this important urge into Indias foreign policy initiative that culminated in Look East policy. Indias engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) started with its Look East Policy in the year 1991. ASEAN has a membership of 10 countries namely Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia Laos PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand and Vietnam. India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and full dialogue partner in 1996. In November 2001 the ASEAN-India relationship was upgraded to the summit level. Consequently the latter had already registered impressive progress in the field of economy strategy and cultural relations between India and ASEAN. India- ASEAN is a study of Indias interaction with the entire ASEAN region as part of its Look East Policy launched since 1991 and now upgraded as Act East Policy; which focus on the extended neighborhood in the Asia-Pacific region. It has originally conceived as an economic initiative has gained political strategic and cultural dimensions including establishment of institutional mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation. It focuses on all the three aspects including political economic and strategic relations between both and examines the underlying causes for the shift and the mutual perceptions. It studies how various internal and external factors have combined to bring about a new turn in the relationship.