IASbaba's Flagship Course: Integrated Learning Programme (ILP) - 2024 Read Details
Topic: General Studies 2:
- Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
In News: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said enhancing all kinds of connectivity, including in social, digital and financial spheres, with the 10-nation ASEAN grouping is a major priority for India. He made the remarks at a virtual summit between India and the ASEAN.
Theme: Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN
The ASEAN leaders –
ASEAN and India
The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.
The ASEAN region along with India together comprises a combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated at over USD 3.8 trillion.
ASEAN-India strategic partnership stands on a strong foundation of shared geographical, historical and civilisational ties. India’s Act East Policy, underlining ASEAN centrality, reflects the importance, India attaches to engagement with ASEAN.
India was one of the first countries to welcome ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific, which has a lot in common with India’s own Indo-Pacific Vision. New Delhi wants to see a strong, unified and prosperous ASEAN playing a central role in the Indo-Pacific region. With the increasing focus on oceans as providers of resources, the reservoirs of biodiversity, the highways of global trade and the frontiers of scientific research, cooperation in the maritime domain has become increasingly important under the overall rubric of ASEAN-India cooperation.
ASEAN and India share land and maritime borders, and there is a lot of scope for enhancing connectivity through land, air and sea. India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway is an ongoing effort to enhance road connectivity between Northeast India and Southeast Asia. There is good air-connectivity between India and several ASEAN countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Last year, Indigo and Vietjet started air-services between India and Vietnam.
With the Indo-Pacific gaining salience in global discourse, the partnership between India and ASEAN is poised to achieve new strengths.
India –
Underlined the centrality of ASEAN in India's Act East Policy
On COVID-19
On connectivity
Connecting the Dots: