India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are civilisational partners and belong to a shared geography. They not only share land and maritime borders, engagements between India and ASEAN have expanded from trade and investment to culture, science and technology, connectivity and sustainable development. The year 2022 marks the 30 years of partnership between ASEAN and India. In the last three decades, ASEAN and India have elevated their relations from the sectoral level to summit level to comprehensive strategic partnership level. The book entitled Thirty Years of ASEAN-India Relations: Towards Indo-Pacific, presents rich prescriptions for the future. It covers a wide range of topics in the fields of economics, geography, history, archaeology, international trade, tourism, migration, and infrastructure for transport. The authors of the chapters are from diverse fields of academic disciplines from India and the ASEAN. Published to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations, this book is a valuable resource for practitioners and scholars who are interested in economic integration.

This book analyses the nearly 30 years of India–ASEAN relations from a contemporary perspective, identifies the reasons for India’s vibrant and significant relation with ASEAN and examines the cultural, economic, political and strategic linkages between India and ASEAN. The book projects the future of India–ASEAN relations in the face of the changing Indo-Pacific geopolitics and explores potential policies which could enhance the connection between India and Southeast Asian countries. Arguing that ASEAN is of primary importance to India, the book suggests that any successful outing in the Indo-Pacific would need a strong partnership with India. The book demonstrates how external powers influence ASEAN, with many of them supporting the centrality of ASEAN and its regional architecture in the broader Indo-Pacific. Chapters by experts in their fields present thematically specific analyses of political, defence, maritime and cultural aspects as well as the position of Northeast India in the India–ASEAN relations and assess the success and challenges of India’s ties with ASEAN in the context of the Look East and the Act East Policies. A reassessment of ASEAN–India relations past and present, this book will be of interest to academics and policy makers working in the field of International Relations, Asian Politics and South Asian Politics, in particular India’s Foreign Policy and Southeast Asian Politics.

India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are civilisational partners and belong to a shared geography. They not only share land and maritime borders, engagements between India and ASEAN have expanded from trade and investment to culture, science and technology, connectivity and sustainable development. The year 2022 marks the 30 years of partnership between ASEAN and India. In the last three decades, ASEAN and India have elevated their relations from the sectoral level to summit level to comprehensive strategic partnership level. The book Thirty Years of ASEAN-India Relations: Towards Indo-Pacific, presents rich prescriptions for the future. It covers a wide range of topics in the fields of economics, geography, history, archaeology, international trade, tourism, migration, and infrastructure for transport. The authors of the chapters are from diverse fields of academic disciplines from India and the ASEAN. Published to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations, this book is a valuable resource for practitioners and scholars who are interested in economic integration. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)

The changes in the global environment such as the demise of the socialist system, initiation of globalization, the declining position of international organizations and reduction in the 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 latter's cultural, political, economic and strategic significance. The long spell of mutual alienation understandably gave way to mutual distrust and suspicion. This dark period in India's relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and South Pacific was, however, brought to an end following the reshaping and reorientation of India's 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 India's foreign policy initiative that culminated in 'Look East' policy. India's 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.

“This incisive and comprehensive study of India-ASEAN relations during Prime Minister Modi’s tenure is essential reading for all those seeking to understand contemporary India’s foreign policy.” – Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, D.Phil. (Oxon.), Padmashri, Professor (Honorary), Jawaharlal Nehru University and University of Melbourne. “The Look East Policy was redefined as the Act East Policy in 2014 when Prime Minister Modi took office. This volume looks at the shift in India’s domestic politics and the impact on India-ASEAN relations. It is a timely volume that will make an academic contribution to the discourse on India and Southeast Asia Relations.” – Prof. Shankari Sundararaman, Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Indo-Pacific Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. “This book is valuable for all who want to understand contemporary increasing ASEAN-India engagement as they share common Indic-Belt root and cultural ethos such as the Ramayana epic in Southeast Asian countries, etc.” – Dr. Gautam K. Jha, Center for Chinese & Southeast Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. “The work is very high fibre in content and treatment. It will be useful for researchers and teachers in the South East Asian fraternity.” – Dr. Manan Dwivedi, Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).