New Delhi: Discussions surrounding the situation in Myanmar, India’s connectivity projects with Southeast Asian countries and building resilient supply chains are expected to figure at the 21st ASEAN – India summit and the 19th East Asia Summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leading the Indian delegation to Laos on 10 October, 2024, and 11 October, 2024, for these two summits.
Modi’s visit to Laos is significant as India will be celebrating a decade of its “Act East Policy”, first postulated in 2014 as New Delhi looked to strengthen its partnership with the countries of Southeast Asia, with an added dimension of deepening its ties with the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“The significance of this particular summit will be that it is the 10th anniversary of the prime minister’s Act East policy. The Prime Minister along with the other heads of state and governments of other ASEAN countries will review the progress in the relations between India and ASEAN during this time and will chart the future direction of our relationship,” said Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs during a special briefing Wednesday.
Keeping in mind the theme of the ASEAN summit this year—connectivity and resilience—Mazumdar added that New Delhi will “express” its support for it.
The ASEAN – India summit and East Asia summit has been a key pillar of Indian foreign policy in the last year, with the Indian PM leading the nation’s delegation for every summit since 2014 except for two—in 2020 and 2022.
In 2023, Modi attended both the summits under the ASEAN framework on 7 September in Jakarta, Indonesia, which was 48 hours before New Delhi welcomed the leaders of the G20 countries for the annual summit chaired by the Indian PM. This was appreciated by the ASEAN member countries, and Indonesia in particular.
While the ASEAN – India summit is held between members of the regional grouping and New Delhi, the East Asia Summit (EAS) is a leaders’ level forum consisting of 18 nations. Those attending the EAS include the 10 members of ASEAN along with the US, Australia, India, Russia, Japan, Republic of Korea, China and New Zealand.
The Secretary (East) did not confirm whether there will be a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit between the Chinese premier Li Qiang and Modi. Mazumdar, however, said that there are several bilateral meetings in the works and will be confirmed at a later time.
The MEA confirmed that Modi will be holding a bilateral meeting with his Laotian counterpart Sonexay Siphandone on the margins of the two summits.
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10 years of Act East, Modi’s 12 proposals
Ties between India and ASEAN have had a “qualitative and transformative” development in the decade since the Act East policy was introduced and that the relationship with nations in the larger region of East Asia—Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania—have also seen a boost.
“So many interactions, so much bilateral cooperation and so many different facets of the relationship that have grown unrecognisably today from what they were 10 years ago…This includes both high-level visits…and in each of those high-level visits there has been real content in a forward-looking way,” explained Mazumdar.
The Secretary (East) further added how since the start of Modi’s third term there has been an increase in high-level visits between the region and India, specifying the Indian PM’s visits to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, the President’s visit to Fiji, Timor-Leste and New Zealand, as well as incoming visits from the prime ministers of Malaysia and Vietnam, to name a few.
“This is an ongoing and very intense engagement with the region,” asserted Mazumdar.
In 2023, Modi had proposed 12 points to enhance ties between India and ASEAN. The proposal included strengthening cooperation in the areas of connectivity, digital transformation, trade and economic engagement, people-to-people contacts and deepening strategic engagement.
“On the 12-point proposals, you will see in terms of the outcomes that will be announced after the ASEAN-India summit that will happen [on 10 October], you will see how the action points that emanate from it feed into the proposals announced by the prime minister last year,” explained Mazumdar.
Myanmar, connectivity projects on the cards
The situation in Myanmar will be discussed in the context of the East Asia Summit, confirmed Mazumdar. India’s Northeastern neighbour has been in the midst of a civil war since February 2021, after its armed forces removed the civilian government from power.
The military junta has faced a number of forces arrayed against it, including ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and the civilian government-in-exile. The civil war to India’s east has seen the country lose the opportunity to hold the 2026 ASEAN summit.
Mazumdar reiterated India’s support for ASEAN’s five-point consensus for returning peace to Myanmar. The five-point consensus has recently come under further scrutiny after Thailand, a member of ASEAN, floated its own peace proposal earlier this week.
The civil war in Myanmar has also impacted India’s own connectivity project to Southeast Asia—the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway. The project first envisioned in 2002, began construction in 2012 and has remained in limbo since the Myanmar civil war erupted in 2021. The 1,360 km route would see the Indian state of Manipur connected to Thailand via Myanmar.
“The trilateral highway is a very important element of our connectivity with ASEAN countries. Thailand is very keen, as keen as us that this is completed at the earliest. Myanmar is also very keen that this be operationalised at the earliest. It is something that will be discussed and come up in our interventions,” said Mazumdar.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)