Delhi Dialogue between India and ASEAN to conclude
The Delhi Dialogue, or the ASEAN-India Foreign Minister’s Meeting, will conclude in New Delhi today.
The meeting, centered around India’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the ASEAN-India Plan of Action, takes place as India celebrates the 10th anniversary of its strategic partnership with ASEAN. India’s coordination with ASEAN members on maritime security given China’s strategic overstretch in the Indo-Pacific, and the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) were pertinent to the meeting. A total of seven ASEAN countries—Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam—are members of the IPEF.
Further areas of India-ASEAN cooperation lie in supply-chain resilience given China’s centrality in the region, investments in digital technology, pandemic recovery and eco-friendly sustainable development. However, due to large trading volumes with China, both India and ASEAN members are careful to balance their security policy. In 2021 alone, ASEAN’s trade with China reached $878 billion.
In the short-term, expect India’s exclusion from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and its lack of competitive manufacturing industries to feature as its main obstacles in gaining influence among ASEAN countries. In the short-to-medium term, ASEAN countries will put aside security concerns and sustainable development projects to continue trade in manufacturing with China.
Download the Daily Brief app to stay ahead of geopolitics with daily, short, forward-looking analysis of geopolitical events before they hit the headlines.
