In News:

• US President Joe Biden hosted a summit with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washington.

What’s in Today’s Article:

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – About, members, ASEAN-India Engagement, India-ASEAN Trade Relation
• News Summary

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

• ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten Southeast Asian countries.
• It aims to promote intergovernmental cooperation and facilitate economic, political, security, military, educational, and socio-cultural integration among its members and other Asian states.
• The ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) in 1967 formalized the principles of peace and cooperation to which ASEAN is dedicated.
• The ASEAN Charter entered into force on 15 December 2008.

Members

ASEAN-India Engagement

• ASEAN and India became Summit-level partners in 2002, and Strategic partners in 2012.
• There is ample closeness between India's "Indo Pacific Oceans Initiative" and ASEAN's "Outlook on Indo Pacific".
• India firmly believes that a "Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN" is essential for "Security and Growth for All in the Region".

India-ASEAN Trade Relation

• In general, ASEAN is India’s 4th largest trading partner and India is ASEAN’s 7th largest trading partner accounting for 10.2% of India’s total trade.
  • Total bilateral trade between India and ASEAN for FY19 was $ 96.7 billion of which
    • India’s export to ASEAN consisted $37.4 billion and
    • Its import form ASEAN constituted $ 59.3 billion.
    • Balance of trade is highly favourable to ASEAN.
  • ASEAN and India have set a trade target of 200 billion USD by 2022.
  • There has been significant recovery of FDI inflows from India in 2018, amounting to 1.7 billion USD.
    • This placed India as ASEAN’s sixth largest source of FDI among ASEAN Dialogue Partners.
  • On trade and investment, the review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) has been long pending. India has called for an early review of the Agreement.

News Summary

• President Joe Biden promised a long-term commitment to Southeast Asia in the face of China’s growing clout as he met ASEAN leaders for a first summit in Washington.
  • The summit marks the first time ASEAN leaders have been invited to the White House in 45 years.
  • In 2016, President Obama was the first US leader to host the summit, then held in Rancho Mirage, California.

Key Highlights:

• Commitment to raise their relationship
  • The first summit in Washington with leaders from ASEAN marked the launch of a "new era" in the relationship between these two regions.
  • Both sides expressed their commitment to raise their relationship from a strategic partnership to a "comprehensive strategic partnership".
• Announcements made by US
  • US President Biden laid out $150 million in new initiatives for the region.
  • He also announced plans for the first full U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in more than five years.
    • The U.S. has not had a Senate-confirmed Ambassador to ASEAN since Barack Obama’s presidency.
  • U.S. commitments also included deployment of a Coast Guard vessel to the region.
    • This will help counter what the United States and regional countries have described as China's illegal fishing.

Analysis

• Summit was largely symbolic
  • Many analysts believe the summit was largely about symbolism with economics a missing component.
  • $150 million spending commitment by US is nothing compared to China’s commitment for the region.
    • China, in November alone, pledged $1.5 billion in development assistance for ASEAN over three years to fight COVID and fuel economic recovery.
• The statement on Ukraine did not condemn Russia by name
  • Critics pointed out the fact that the statement on Ukraine did not condemn Russia by name.
  • It should be noted that Indonesia, which is hosting a G20 summit in July 2022, has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the meeting, despite US calls to isolate him