In a rare event, leaders of 10 South-East Asian countries shared a pedestal with Indian President Ram Nath Kovind as he took the salute at a magnificent military parade on January 26, Republic Day. The event that had the whole world glued to their TV screens took place just a little over two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Manila for a summit with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), that groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The leaders were in the National Capital to hold another summit, a day before Republic Day, to commemorate 25 years of the India-ASEAN dialogue partnership. With a theme that said 'Shared Values, Common Destiny', it is no secret that the summit was held against the backdrop of China's aggressive economic and strategic actions in Asia. A joint statement released after the meeting called for strengthening and deepening “strategic partnership for mutual benefit, across the whole spectrum of political-security, economy, socio-cultural and development cooperation.” There also was a reaffirmation of their mutual commitment to work “closely together on common regional and international security issues of mutual concern and ensure an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture through existing ASEAN-led frameworks and mechanisms.”
10 ASEAN Leaders review R-Day parade
The sight of supremos from neighbouring countries sharing stage with Indian leaders was an open demonstration of PM Modi's strategic outreach to the South-Eastern countries. Modi' neighbourhood policy is yet to hit puberty, and there are several factors hampering its growth including China, Pakistan military, and Nepal's political situation. China's hegemonic behaviour in the South China Sea and the navy's deep penetration into the Indian Ocean Region has raised global concerns.
India's outreach to ASEAN is in a way to further counterbalance China. Parallelly, Australia, India, Japan, and the United States' Quad is developing into pivot in the Indo-Pacific. Former ambassador to Thailand Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said, “The challenge for India is to scale up trade and investment. While ease of doing business is improving making FDI more attractive, and projections by the IMF are all positive, there is a long way to go to tackle corruption, energise the bureaucracy and cut through the maze of regulations that continue to deter business and trade. India also seeks cooperation in the negotiations to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the mega FTA that has been under negotiation for many years. The rigidity of ASEAN countries in balancing trade in goods and services has held up the RCEP.”
Things, however, won't be easy for India. ASEAN has its own rules of engagement among its members and its unity is sometimes undermined by issues like Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingyas and issues prompted by China's assertiveness.
Rubbing Dragon the wrong way
As the India and ASEAN countries held hands, the Chinese media reflected on their apparent displeasure. A Chinese state daily printed an editorial titled “India's geopolitical bluff baffles China”. “India and ASEAN have the right to hold the summit, which exerts no negative effect upon China,” the editorial wrote. It however accused “some Indians” of being “tenacious in exaggerating the meeting's implications to China.”
The piece also said, “ASEAN's trade volume with China is more than six times that of India, and China's investment in the region is 10 times that of India.” It even accused “some members of the Indian elite” of “engaging in geopolitical bluster.” “But, they cannot truly gauge the reality of Inda's comprehensive strength and diplomatic experience. They are beginners playing at geopoliticism.” Despite the fact that the newspaper dedicated an entire piece on India, it ironically claimed that “Chinese people are not occupied by India.”
“Honestly speaking, Chinese people are not occupied by India. New Delhi is not Beijing's major trading partner and, despite border disputes, is not an imminent security threat to us Chinese. China expects peaceful co-existence with India and is happy to witness its cultural and societal progress. China attaches more importance to its eastward development and the Belt and Road initiative,” it wrote.
