18th India-ASEAN Summit

18th India-ASEAN Summit- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 2: International Relation- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

 

18th India-ASEAN Summit- Context

• Recently, the Prime Minister of India participated in the 18th India-ASEAN Summit at the invitation of His Majesty of Brunei, the current Chair of ASEAN.
• The Summit was held virtually and saw participation from the Leaders of ASEAN Member States.

16th East Asia Summit (EAS) 2021

 

18th India-ASEAN Summit- Key Highlights

• Year 2022 as India-ASEAN Friendship Year: Announced by the leaders to celebrate the 30th anniversary of India-ASEAN Partnership.
• Indian Prime Minister underlined the centrality of ASEAN in India’s Act East Policy and in India’s Vision for the wider Indo-Pacific Vision.
• Adoption of the India-ASEAN Joint Statement on cooperation for peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
• Indo-pacific vision: synergies between the ASEAN Outlook for the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).
• Enhancing India-ASEAN connectivity in broadest terms including physical, digital and people to people.
• To further strengthen India-ASEAN cultural connectivity, Prime Minister announced India’s support for establishing the ASEAN Cultural Heritage List.
• On trade and investment: India underlined the importance of diversification and resilience of supply chains for post-COVID economic recovery and in this regard, the need to revamp the India-ASEAN FTA.

 

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

• About ASEAN: ASEAN was formed in 1967 by the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore.
  • ASEAN was created through the Bangkok Declaration (ASEAN Declaration) in Bangkok, Thailand.
  • ASEAN Day is observed on 8th August each year.
  • ASEAN Secretariat: Indonesia, Jakarta.
  • Motto of ASEAN: “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”.
• Mandate of ASEAN: ASEAN aims to promote economic growth, peace, security, social progress and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region.
• ASEAN Members:

1. 1. Thailand (founding member)
   2. The Philippines (founding member)
   3. Malaysia (founding member)
   4. Singapore (founding member)
   5. Indonesia (founding member)
   6. Brunei (joined in 1984)
   7. Vietnam (joined in 1995)
   8. Lao PDR (joined in 1997)
   9. Myanmar (joined in 1997)
   10. Cambodia (joined in 1999)