South China Sea, Rohingya on ASEAN map |ForumIAS

Context

The maritime dispute over the South China Sea, exodus of the Rohingya citizens of Myanmar into Bangladesh and India, North Korean nuclear posturing and Islamic State-linked terrorism are likely to be the key talking points at the 31st ASEAN summit

What else is on the list?

Apart from participating in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits, in the three-day visit, Mr. Modi would also take part in special celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN,Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders’ Meeting andASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
The bilateral meeting with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte with PM Modi and interactions with other ASEAN and East Asia Summit Leaders is also on the cards.

What is the crisis?

The Rohingya crisis is a human rights crisis with serious humanitarian consequences.
Large number of Muslim Rohingya have fled Myanmar, many crossing by land into Bangladesh, while others take to the sea to reach Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
The unfair policies of the Myanmar government in Rakhine state have resulted hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee since the late 1970s

Security cooperation

The main forum for ASEAN security dialogue is the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
India has been attending annual meetings of this forum since 1996 and has actively participated in its various activities.
The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN.
The ADMM+ brings together Defence Ministers from the 10 ASEAN nations plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United States on a biannual basis.

Trade and Investment

India-ASEAN trade and investment relations have been growing steadily, with ASEAN being India’s fourth largest trading partner.
The annual trade between India and ASEAN stood at approximately US$ 76.53 billion in 2014-15.
It declined to US$ 65.04 billion in 2015-16 essentially due to declining commodity prices amidst a general slowing down of the global economy.
Investment flows are also substantial both ways, with ASEAN accounting for approximately 12.5% of investment flows into India since 2000.

Convergence

Economic ties between India and Southeast Asia are, for reasons of history, orientation and policy, today still rather thin.
There seems to be a trend of convergence between the economic orientations and policies of India and Southeast Asia, as it within ASEAN itself.
Free global trade and globalization are the common grounds between ASEAN and India.
Current relations
The year 2017 also completes 15 years of India-ASEAN dialogue at the summit.
2017 also commemorates the completion of five years of strategic partnership between Asia’s third-largest economy and one of the most successful economic groupings in the world.
India’s bid to accentuate its links with ASEAN comes at a time of flux in the region with China seen as growing more assertive vis-a-vis its territorial claims in the oil and gas-rich South China Sea, which is also a major international maritime trade route.

What needs to be done?

India is yet to give a signal that its remains committed to a long-term strategic presence in the region.
Economically, India needs to develop connectivity with the region so that economic complementarities can be fully realized.
Militarily, India needs to evolve into a robust security provider in the region.
Diplomatically, it needs a sustained outreach.
Culturally, it needs to build on the shared cultural linkages.

What does the summit mean to India?

The India-ASEAN Summit symbolizes India’s commitment to deepen its ties with the ASEAN member states and the Indo-Pacific region as part of the ‘Act East Policy’.
The 10-member grouping ASEAN and India comprise a total population of 1.85 billion people which is one-fourth of the global population. The combined GDP has been estimated at over 3.8 trillion dollars.