Page 90 - AEI Insights 2018 Vol 4 Issue 1

AEI Insights, Vol 4, Issue 1, 2018

The contrast between 1992 and 2018 is fairly visible: Before 1992, India was not a member of
any Asian politico-security architecture or a multilateral security related forum; today it is an
active member of the East Asia Summit (EAS), which is widely accepted as the highest table
on politico-strategic issues (or the fulcrum of Asian Security Dialogue as Professor S.D. Muni
2
terms it) , the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting
(ADMM) Plus, and the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF) (Mishra, R. 2018).
Ironically, in the late 1980s, and early 1990s, India was perceived by many Southeast Asian
countries as a threat- a factor which played a key role in the launch of the Look East policy
(Naidu, 2000). In order to allay the apprehensions of countries such as Indonesia and Australia,
India included the ‘maritime socialisation’ as an active component of the Look East policy in
its initial years.
The contrast on economic issues is even sharper: From being an insulated moribund economy,
which was on the verge of collapse in 1991, India is now a trillion-dollar economy with an
active role to play in finalisation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) negotiations, a mega-regional trade pact which involves the ten ASEAN countries and
their six dialogue partners, namely: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South
Korea. India has already implemented the ASEAN India Free Trade Agreement on Trade in
Goods and Services, while also having finalised [bilateral] Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia, and is actively
working on CECA/CEPA negotiations with Australia and New Zealand (Mishra, R. 2018).

Historical Background

While it seems fine to analyse India-ASEAN relations by way of looking at a span of twenty-
five years, it would be unfair to confine India’s engagement with the Southeast and East Asian
region to a small period of quarter-a-century. Cutting across domains of social milieu, India’s
impact on the ‘East’ has been indelible on almost all the countries of the Southeast and East
Asian region- from literature to linguistics; art to architecture; drama to dance, and; from
religion to rituals, India’s influence has been incredible. Such has been India’s civilizational
influence that before the term Southeast Asia came into vogue, the region was called as (in
addition to British East Indies which anyway represented less than half of the region),
Hinduised states of Southeast Asia, Greater India, Farther India, India beyond the Ganges etc.
In the classical Indian literature, countries of the Southeast Asian region have been frequently
mentioned as- Suvarnbhoomi, Balidipa, Jambudwipa, Brahmadesh etc.

The cultural impact of India on the ‘East’ has been duly recorded in the ancient Indian and
Southeast Asian art, architecture and literature. The Indian and Southeast Asian inscriptions
also bear testimony to that. Buddhism is one of the most profound contributions of India to the
Southeast and East Asian region. Even today, thousands of devout Buddhist pilgrims visit
important Buddhist sites in India, including, but not confined to Sarnath, Bodh Gaya etc., to
pay tributes to the Lord Buddha. To protect India’s collective heritage and historical
monuments, the Archaeological Survey of India under the overall monitoring of the Ministry
of External Affairs, has been tirelessly working to restore the ancient heritage sites in Southeast

2 For details see, S. D. Muni, “East Asia Summit as the Fulcrum of Asian Security Dialogue: S. D. Muni”,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBqdDUPjPuI

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