India and ASEAN Summit

¹Dr. Chandrakant Siddhantha Kadhare and ¹Dr. Bhimrao Laxman Shirsat

¹VVM’s S. G. Patil Arts, Science & Commerce College, Sakri Dist-Dhule

GDM Arts, KRN Com. & M.D. Science College, Jamner Dist. Jalgaon

Mail ID- bhimraolshirsat@gmail.com Mail ID –kchandu12@gmail.com

Abstract: The look east policy is the significant forcing policy initiative of India in the post cold war era and proved immensely successful for both the partners. The two sides are engaged in meeting the goals of India ASEAN partnership for peace, progress and prosperity.

Introduction:

India’s road to ASEAN opened with India becoming the sect oral dialogue partner in 1992 and full dialogue partner in December in 1995. India became a member of Asian Regional Forum (ARF) in July 1996 and held its first Summit meeting with ASEAN in 2002 since then India is participating in cooperation with ASEAN Countries. The Summit meeting has played a significant role in   caring for Indian ASEAN relations. It is one of the most Comprehensive, fruitful friendships leading to a partnership of peace progress and shared prosperity in Asia. The Summit Partnership helped to Agreement India ASEAN ties which cultivated into fruitful and meaningful partnership for the Two decades above and diplomatic victory for India’s look policy.

1. First India ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh on 5th Nov.2002:

Summit in Phnom Penh on 5th November 2002: The institutionalization of ASEAN India relations came with the first ASEAN India summit in Phnom Penh on 5 November 2002 and was the success of India’s look east policy. It was considered an acknowledgement of India’s emergence as a key player in the Asia Pacific Region¹⁶. This breakthrough came after a long and arduous effort in the part of the Indian diplomacy to convince ASEAN countries to hold separate ASEAN summits. The first association of South East nations India summit held in Cambodia set the stage for India to more purposefully ahead in developing a broad strategic partnership with the South East Asian countries while Indian political leaders constantly ponder upon how they will enhance the prospecting of their peoples.¹⁷ The first ever summit has been the landmark development heralding a new path in relationship of India ASEAN

2. India ASEAN Second summit in Bali on Oct. 2003:

The second India ASEAN summit was held in Bali Indonesia in October 2003. India and ASEAN had signed three agreements which were a framework agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation leading to the creation of free trade areas by the year 2001. The 2^nd document is India’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South East Asia.

The Third agreement was on cooperation to ASEAN Treaty of Amity and cooperation spoke of a growing closeness with Southeast Asia and was seen as another step towards India’s look East policy but of greater signification was the framework agreement aimed at creation of a free Trade area in ten years as provided in the agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation.

A joint declaration signed by India ASEAN for cooperation in combating international terrorism. The joint declaration stipulates cooperation in) exchange information 2. Legal and enforcement matters. 3. Institutional capacity augmentation 4. The signing of Treaty of Amity and cooperation TAC expressed its adherence to the ASEAN goal of regional peace and stability.

3. The Third India – ASEAN Summit in Laos in November 2004:

The third India ASEAN Summit took place at Vientiane in Laos in November 2004 whereby the prime minister of India welcomed the adoption by ASEAN leaders of the Violating Action programme VAP to realize the goals of the ASEAN vision 2020 and the ASEAN Declaration Concord II^nd. India expressed its support to the implementation of activities and projects under the VAP. They also signed the “ASEAN India partnership for peace, progress and shared prosperity. And adopted its plan of action to expand and deepen their partnership and cooperation in the century. They also acknowledged that the signing of partnership will assure India’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and cooperation in South Asia. The Joint Declaration for Cooperation to combat international Terrorism by The ASEAN India. Reflected our determination and commitment to move forward the relationship in substantive comprehensive and purposeful manner contributing to regional peace and stability and shared economic prosperity and development.¹⁸

4. The fourth ASEAN India summit in Kuala Lumpur on 13 December 2005:

The fourth India ASEAN Summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia successfully on 13 December 2005. The plan of Action to implement the ASEAN India partnership for peace, progress and prosperity signed at the Third India ASEAN summit. Progress was made in the area of cooperation including agriculture, health and pharmaceuticals science and technology, Transport and infrastructure, human resource development, ICT and people to people interaction. The leaders expressed appreciation to India for the US 2.5 million replenishment to ASEAN India cooperation fund they tasked ministers and senior officials to accelerate the implementation of the ASEAN India plan of Action through concrete activities programme and projects Expressed appreciation India’s continued support for the initiative for ASEAN integration in particular India’s officer to establish and maintain satellite based network linking India with the 4 clung countries for Tele education application and tale medicine.

5. The fifth India ASEAN Summit in Cebu Philippines on 14 January 2007:

The fifth India ASEAN Summit on 14 January 2007 was held successfully in Cebu, Philippines. The leaders expressed satisfaction with the all achievement of India ASEAN relation. The major areas of cooperation were Trade, investment, Tourism science and techniques, human resource development and people to people contract information and communication technology. The talk on “open skies” between India ASEAN agreements which would liberalize air service was also commenced, so as to have faster interaction and movement between Southeast Asia and India. It was agreed that connectivity would be further enhanced with the establishment of a transport network between India and CLMV countries¹⁹. The project such as:

1) ASEAN India IT industry forum 2. ASEAN network project establishing a VSAT based tele education and medicine network to connect CLMV countries was to be implemented²⁰.

6. The Sixth India ASEAN summit in Singapore on 21 Nov. 2007:

The 6^th India ASEAN Summit was held on 21 Nov. 2007 in Singapore whereby the ASEAN leaders welcomed India’s continued support for ASEAN’s efforts to build an ASEAN community by 2015. they expressed appreciation for India’s support for the Vientiane action programme and to narrow the development gap within ASEAN through its various contributions including the initiative for ASEAN integration and other sub regional growth initiatives” ASEAN leaders appreciated India’s offer to set up on “ASEAN India’s Green fund” with an initial contribution from India of US 5 million. They expressed their satisfaction for India’s contribution of US million to operationalise. The ASEAN India science and technology Development fund;The Fund would intensify research and development cooperation in science and information technology, and enable ASEAN to tap India’s expertise in those fields.

7. The Seventh India ASEAN Summit in HuaHin, in October 2009:

The 7thIndia ASEAN Summit in October 2009 in HuaHin Thailand in October 2009, India announced a contribution of USD 50 million to ASEAN India cooperation fund to Support ASEAN India project across the range of sectors. India has set up an ASEAN India. science and technology development fund with an initial corpus fund of USD one million and USD 5 million ASEAN India Green fund for Pilot project to promote adoption and mitigation Technologies in the field of climate change the signing of ASEAN India trade in goods agreement took place at the 41st ASEAN Economic ministers meeting on 13 August 2009 which has encouraged its earlyimplementation by January 2010. It was hoped the agreement would allow producers and exporters to drive full benefit from the potential of combined markets. To further reap the benefits of free trade, the ministers and officials of India and ASEAN countries were entrusted to work towards the early conclusion of services and investment agreements.

8. The Eighth India – ASEAN Summit in Ha Noi, on 30 October 2010:

The 8^th India ASEAN Summit was held on 30 October 2010 in Ha Woi in Vietnam. The Summit meeting reviewed ASEAN India Dialogue relations and expressed satisfaction at the growth of cooperation which has developed into Multi faceted and dynamic partnership contributing to regional peace, mutual understanding and closer economic interaction. The Summit welcomed the proposal of India to host the ASEAN India commemorative Summit in India in 2012 and tasked officials to work out substantive activities to mark the celebration of 20th anniversary of ASEAN India Dialogue relations and the Tenth anniversary of the ASEAN Indian Summit.

In that time efforts of both sides to draft the ASEAN India plan of action POA to implement the ASEAN India partnership for peace, progress and shared prosperity from 2010 to 2015 which was going to serve as a key instrument to make ASEAN India cooperation more action oriented. Contributing to the ASEAN India Dialogue partnership and complementing the ASEAN in integration and community building. The leaders agreed to launch the POA on this occasion and tasked ministers and officials to implement the POA through concrete projects and practical cooperation.

Despite the global financial crisis in 2009, India remained the seventh largest trading partner of ASEAN and the sixth largest investor in ASEAN with an increase of 40.8% in foreign direct investment from India to ASEAN.In this regard the ASEAN leaders reaffirmed their commitment made at India ASEAN Summit to achieve’s bilateral Trade target of US 70 billion by 2012.

The entry into force of the ASEAN India trade is a good agreement AL TIGA for all parties by the leaders, and raised hoped for the early completion of the negotiations on trade in services and investment Agreement under the ASEAN India free trade area framework (AIFTA) India proposed to convene an ASEAN India Business fair (AIBF) and the ASEAN India Business Summit (AIBS) in March 2011 in New Delhi Dialogue III^rd which provide the platform for security and political dialogue between India ASEAN²¹. It was also decided to establish an ASEAN India Eminent person Group (EPG) to take stock of the 22 years of ASEAN India cooperation and chart future direction of ASEAN India dialogue relation by drafting a new ASEAN India vision 2020 Document for presenting at the commemorative summit in 2012. India also extended its readiness to increase the number of the ASEAN Indiaentrepreneurship development centers and centers for English language Training in CLMV countries as well as the establishment of the IT Training centers in the CLMV countries²².

ASEAN leaders appreciated India’s continued effort in promoting people to people exchange and mutual understanding through visits to India of students, members of the media and diplomats. ASEAN India relations help to foster at the peoples level. In this regard, in 2010 they welcomed the visit of India Indian Parliamentary Assembly and the granting of “observer status” to the delegation during their visit.

9. The Ninth India ASEAN Summit in Bali on 19 Nov. 2011:

The 9^th India ASEAN Summit was held on 19 Nov. 2011 successfully in Bali, Indonesia. The leaders agreed to further enhance cooperation to vigorously implement the ASEAN India Joint declaration for cooperation tocombat international terrorism to enhance cooperation on maritime security to ensure safety and security of Seas lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean cooperation on food energy security. They appreciated the convening of the ASEAN India commemorative to celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of ASEAN India dialogue relation from 20-21 December 2012 in New Delhi.

The ASEAN leader appreciated India’s proposal to hold in the run up to the summit including the holding of the fourth round of the Delhi Dialogue in February 2012 and meetings of the ASEAN India ministers for new and Renewable energy and agriculture as well as India and ASEAN business fair, The leaders agreed to enhance the people to people connectivity to increase understanding of cultural diversity and value of Asia, through exchange of youth, young entrepreneurs, IT experts, scientists, diplomats, Media and students. They also committed to hold an India ASEAN Festival in 2012 and hold other activities such as translating literary works and books. They welcome Cambodia’s Proposal to organize ASEAN India cultural performance in 2012 in Siem Reap Cambodia.

India and ASEAN leaders expressed their commitment to enhance further the implementation of the plan of action 2010-2015 Highlighting the importance of ASEAN India Eminent persons group, the leaders said that the recommendations to be submitted to the Tenth ASEAN India summit in 2010. The leaders from ASEAN commended India for its initiative in establishing the ASEAN India green fund to support cooperative projects between ASEAN and India on Technologies aimed at promoting adaptation to and mitigation of climate change establishment of the ASEAN India S and T development fund as it will encourage collaboration in R and D and Technology projects between ASEAN and India which led to extensive joint cooperation activities in science and technology. ASEAN leaders welcomed India’s active contribution in fostering collaboration and consultations with ASEAN and further promoting the interests of the developing countries in the United Nations, international financial institutions WTO and G 20 among others, so as to articulate the aspirations of the developing countries for equitable treatment and representation of their views²³.

10. The Tenth India Nov. 2012: ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, on

The Tenth India ASEAN Summit that was held at peace place Phnom Penh, in Cambodia on 19 Nov. 2012. The prime minister of kingdom of Cambodia chaired the Summit Hun Sen and was attended by the leaders of ten members of ASEAN and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, During the Tenth Anniversary of ASEAN India Summit, 20th Anniversary of ASEAN India Dialogue reactions was also observed at the same venue of peach place Phnom Penh. The ASEAN India Summit for the first time was observed in the year 2002.

At Phnom Penh, it was decided to organize various commemorative activities throughout the year to mark the twenty years of dialogue partnership and year of summit partnership. The cardinal activities included the meeting between heads of space agencies, ministerial level meeting in tourism, environment, agriculture, new and renewable energy the sending of the sail training ship “Sudarshini” on an expedition to ASEAN countries second India ASEAN Business fair and Business conclave and the ASEAN India car rally. These would be held during the ASEAN India commemorative Summit²⁴.

11. India ASEAN commemorative Summit in New Delhi on 21 December 2013:

The India ASEAN commemorative summit took place in New Delhi on 21 December 2013 to commemorate the 20 years of India ASEAN Relations and 10 years of Summit partnership. The significant aspect of the Summit wasthe vision statement agreed between India and ASEAN which clearly articulated the objectives of a new “strategic partnership” that would be based on closer political, security and economic cooperation. They underlined the need for freedom of navigation, a contentious issue because of competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South china sea, though there was no mention of China in the statement “we are committed to fostering greater security cooperation and information sharing in the form of regular and high-level security dialogues to further address traditional and nontraditional crises, and strengthening the effective implementation of The ASEAN India joint declaration for cooperation to combat international terrorism²⁵.

12. The Eleventh India: ASEAN Summit on 10 Oct. 2013 in Bander Seri Bagawan in Brunei:

The 11^th India ASEAN Summit took place at the Bander Seri Bagawan in Brunei Successfully on 10^th October 2013 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh highlighted the importance of India’s look cast policy and the successful Journey of India ASEAN partnership of the past two decades. He said “We look forward to sign the India ASEAN trade in services and investment by the end of 2013 and its operationalization by July 2014 and its operationalization by July 2014 we would be happy to Respond to the ASEAN request to develop the security dimension of India’s look east policy to strengthen the ASEAN political security community Blueprint 2015” further the prime minister of India Manmohan Singh said at the concluding session of the summit “ASEAN countries that they have led to the way in cooperation and integration, not only among themselves, but also in the border region for India. It is an article of faith of our look east policy that ASEAN must remain central to future evolution of regional mechanisms. Which must be open and inclusive? We share your vision and aspirations for the region and applaud your March toward on ASEAN economic community in 2015” the primeminister also emphasized the growing strategic content in India ASEAN relations to respond to the common security challenges which supplemented India’s depending security cooperation with ASEAN countries Bilaterally India and ASEAN have agreed to develop a “Security community Blueprint 2015 which includes cooperation on transnational cries. a counter mechanism against threat of piracy and drug trafficking and an action plan to combat international terrorism, Aiming to give a fillip to India’s look east policy prime minister Minoan Singh announced new initiatives to take forward ties with ASEAN the establishment of a mission in Jakrta with full time resident Ambassador will not only enhance India’s regional linkage but will also strengthen India Indonesia bilateral relations. The India ASEAN free trade agreement on services and investment had been expected by the end of 2013. It will complement India ASEAN agreement on goods and bolster the economic partnership. This will also promote negotiations for the regional comprehensive economic partnership RCEP between ASEAN India and other cast ASEAN partners. Which aims to create the world’s largest free trade area by2015? It is expected that India ASEAN trade which stood at $ 76 billion last year will reach $ 100 billion by 2015 and double volume by 2022²⁶.

India and ASEAN leaders at the summit committed to look into the possibility of taking concrete steps towards the development of making India Economic corridor as well as strengthening ASEAN India connectivity in information and communication technology ICT. India is dedicated to improving roads with ASEAN in infrastructure connectivity. In addition to a massive highway project that will link Thailand and Myanmar as well as special economic zones and pores. The summit also boosted several cooperative projects with ASEAN under the plan of action for 2010 to 2015 that includes establishment of a satellite tracking and data reception station and data processing Facility in Vietnam and the upgrading of a telemetry command situation in Indonesia by April 2014. Projects to set up four information technology Centers in CLMV countries Cambodia Lao PDR Myanmar Vietnam was supported by a resource center located in India, ASEAN countries have expressed support for the establishment of Nalanda University as an international institution of excellence India and ASEAN have agreed to sign the intergovernmental Memorandum of understanding on Nalanda University, which would go a long way in promoting cultural confluence of both regions. The Prime minister noted that the first meeting between The ASEAN connectivity coordinating committee and India took place in 2013. The decision to establish a working group and soft infrastructure along the corridors of connectivity projects, He suggested that officials begin discussions on an ASEAN India transit transport agreement with a view to completing it by 2015. India has recently established an exchange programme for students. Farmer’s diplomats, media and parliamentarians and the ASEAN India network of Think Tanks these exchanges sow the seeds of better understanding and productive partnerships between India and member countries of ASEAN²⁷.

Conclusion:

India ASEAN relations have come a long way in the last two decades, providing enormous opportunities to both sides to cooperate on a wide range of issues. The India ASEAN partnership for peace, progress and shared prosperity in 2004 to 2010 and 2010-2015 has proved instrumental in taking these ties to new heights. India ASEAN Summit partnership enthused the two sides to launch numerous projects in different fields leading to comprehensive and inclusive partnership in the 21th century. The look east policy is the significant forcing policy initiative of India in the post cold war era and proved immensely successful for both the partners. The two sides are engaged in meeting the goals of India ASEAN partnership for peace, progress and prosperity.

Reference:

1. Joint Statement of Bismt-Ec Ministerial Meeting New Delhi, 6 July 2000.

2. Jha  Ganganath, India and Southeast Asia, Anamika New Delhi,2000,P.N.99.

3.  Kavl Man Mohini , Time for great long Eastward, The Indian Express New Delhi ,2002.

4. A Parthasarthy, The gains of looking ease,” The Pioneer New Delhi,21 November 2002

5. www.asean.org

6. Kishor Babu, Pokharna Bhavana (ets), India ASEAN Relation Summit Partnership  Perspective , Dr. World focus, New Delhi,2014

7. www.pib.nic. 14 Jan 2007

8.http//www.indianbusiness.nic.in/businessnews/speeches-statements/pm Oct30-14htm.

9. www.asean.org/news/items/chairman-statements of the 8^th ASEAN- India Summit.

10. http://asean2010,vn/asean-en/news/48/ZDAA00 Chairman’s statement .

11. www.aseanindia.com/summit-2012/

12. http/blogs.timesofIndia-indiantimes .com/Chanakya Code entry India asean summit Places -emphasis -on- Maritime-Security.

13.Dr. Bhimrao Laxman Shirsat., Role of India in ASEAN.,(Research thesis.,)Department of Political Science, Dr.BAMU, Aurangabad Maharashtra 2017.p.. No.56, 66.