The Ninth Meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was held at Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on 31 July 2002, where the ASEAN countries made a historic decision to enter into a Summit level dialogue with India marks an important milestone in India-ASEAN relations. India shares common concerns with South East Asia; hence a review of India- ASEAN relationship and prospects of India’s engagement with the region would be in order.

     India’s civilisational links with the South East Asian region can be traced back a thousand years. It has influenced the region more than any other country, had the oldest maritime trade relations with it. The commercial bonds shattered later due to the colonial policies, but the anti-colonial movement provided a new momentum to India-South East Asia relations. Indian leaders were conscious of its strategic importance. Therefore, India signed its first bilateral cultural agreement with Indonesia, and the Indian navy held its first-ever joint exercise outside the Commonwealth with the Indonesian navy in 1960. But the divergence in ideological outlook and security relationships imposed by the Cold War inhibited their relations for four decades after independence. Though India supported all the moves adopted by ASEAN for ensuring peace and stability in the region, actual interaction was limited.

     The end of the Cold War paved the way for clearing misperceptions by both sides. The “look East” policy initiated by India and realisation by the ASEAN countries provided a new impetus to bilateral relations. At the Fourth ASEAN Summit, in 1992, the ASEAN heads agreed to grant India the status of a Sectoral Dialogue Partner, which provided a new beginning to India-ASEAN relations. The formalisation of this partnership symbolised a recognition of their political and economic potential, and enables both sides to seek new areas of cooperation. Accordingly, the ASEAN - India Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (AIJSCC) was set up in March 1993. It identified four areas for cooperation, viz. trade, investment, tourism and science and technology.

     The second defining moment in this relationship came three years later. At the Fifth Summit in Bangkok, the ASEAN leaders decided to award India the status of a full Dialogue Partner. This allows India to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)- and the Post Ministerial Conference between ASEAN foreign ministers and dialogue partners. India’s participation helped to enhance the profile of ARF and the common security concerns discussed contributed positively to India-ASEAN ties. The positions adopted by India and ASEAN on various regional and international issues, especially terrorism, economic globalisation and technological cooperation at the recent annual meeting of the ARF at Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei validate this point. The statement made by the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, that India regards peace and prosperity in ASEAN as vital to its own well-being, assumes great significance in this regard.

     ASEAN and India established the ASEAN-India Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) Meeting in 1996. In February 1998, ASEAN and India also began a political dialogue and consultation at the Senior Officials level. They have become important due to the challenge posed by terrorism. India and ASEAN have also established a functional mechanism to coordinate and facilitate the working at the professional and technical level. The working group set up to focus on development cooperation, science and technology, trade and investment and the business council has become operational. Another area of cooperation between India and ASEAN is the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) framework, which comprises five members of ASEAN, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. In its inaugural meeting at Vientiane, in November 2000, the MGC ministers identified several key areas for cooperation, like culture, education, tourism, transport and communications.

     Against this backdrop, the third important phase in India- ASEAN relations will be the India-ASEAN Summit, which is to be held in Cambodia, in November. This provides an opportunity for India to develop functional cooperation in the areas of human resource development, transport, infrastructure and exchange of information for stopping the financing of terrorist networks. Mutual cooperation to promote people to people contacts through academic exchanges and cultural programmes is needed. However, India-ASEAN relations in the last decade or so have witnessed a realisation on both sides that mutual interaction is beneficial for the peace and prosperity of the region and for them also.