India and Southeast Asia: Strengthening Strategic Engagement

Syllabus: GS2/International Relations

Context

• The forthcoming ASEAN, 21st East Asia, 23rd India-ASEAN summits, and the QUAD leaders’ meeting in Manila in Philippines offer India an opportunity to strengthen maritime security, economic cooperation and strategic partnerships amid intensifying geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific.

About Southeast Asia

• Southeast Asia is a strategically located subregion of Asia, situated between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• It comprises countries like Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
• Ten of these countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while Timor-Leste became its 11th member in 2025.
• ASEAN provides an important regional platform for economic integration, political dialogue and security cooperation.
• India’s engagement with the region has evolved from the Look East Policy (1991) to the more comprehensive Act East Policy (2014), with greater emphasis on connectivity, economic integration and strategic cooperation.

Strategic Significance of Southeast Asia

• Global Significance:
  • Geostrategic Location: The Malacca Strait and South China Sea connect the Indian and Pacific Oceans and facilitate international maritime trade.
  • Global Trade: The region lies along critical Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs), making its stability essential for global commerce and energy security.
  • Economy: ASEAN is a major manufacturing and investment destination, particularly in electronics, semiconductors and emerging technologies.
  • Geopolitical: The region is central to the strategic competition between the United States and China.
• Significance For India:
  • Maritime Security: Over 55% of India’s trade reportedly passes through the South China Sea and Malacca Strait, making freedom of navigation a vital national interest.
  • Economic Opportunities: Southeast Asia offers markets for Indian goods, services, pharmaceuticals, IT and manufacturing.
  • Northeast Connectivity: Projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway can integrate India’s Northeast with regional markets.
  • Strategic Balancing: Stronger regional partnerships enhance India’s strategic autonomy and contribute to a stable, multipolar Indo-Pacific.
  • Energy & Supply Chains: Cooperation can diversify India’s sources of critical minerals, energy and industrial inputs.

Key Priorities of India’s Engagement with Southeast Asia

• Maritime Cooperation: India has designated 2026 as the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation, emphasising maritime safety, freedom of navigation, anti-piracy operations and adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
• Trade Reforms: Fast-tracking the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to address trade imbalances, improve market access and simplify trade procedures.
• Digital Integration: Promoting cooperation under the ASEAN-India Digital Work Plan through India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), including Aadhaar, UPI and e-KYC.
• Supply Chain Resilience: Supporting diversification of semiconductor, critical mineral and telecommunications supply chains.
• Connectivity: Strengthening physical, digital and maritime connectivity, particularly through India’s Northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Complementary Pillars of India’s Indo-Pacific Policy: QUAD and ASEAN

• India follows a two-pronged approach to regional stability by strengthening both ASEAN-led institutions and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD).

• Areas of Convergence:
  • Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) through the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA).
  • Cooperation on critical minerals, semiconductors and resilient supply chains.
  • Opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo through coercion.
  • Promotion of connectivity, digital infrastructure and regional stability.
• India uses the East Asia Summit (EAS), an ASEAN-led forum, to reinforce its commitment to ASEAN centrality.
• Thus, ASEAN and QUAD are complementary rather than competing arrangements.
  • ASEAN-led institutions offer broader regional legitimacy and inclusiveness, while QUAD provides practical security and technological cooperation.

Strengthening Defence Cooperation: Philippines as a Strategic Partner

• BrahMos Agreement (2022): India signed a $375-million agreement to supply shore-based BrahMos supersonic cruise missile systems to the Philippines, strengthening its coastal defence capabilities.
• Strategic Partnership (2025): During the Philippines’ President visit to India in August 2025, bilateral relations were elevated to a Strategic Partnership, accompanied by a 2025–2029 Action Plan.
• Joint Naval Exercise (2025): The Indian and Philippine navies conducted their first-ever joint naval exercise within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea.
• Maritime Capacity Building: India has offered assistance in maritime domain awareness, defence technology and Philippine Coast Guard capacity-building.

Strategic Implications For India

• Strengthens India’s position as a credible defence equipment supplier.
• Supports a rules-based maritime order and peaceful settlement of disputes.
• Counters China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea without entering into a formal military alliance.
• Creates strategic leverage in the wider Indo-Pacific, particularly given India’s own concerns along the Himalayan frontier.
• India has supported the South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award (2016), which rejected the legal basis of China’s expansive Nine-Dash Line claims.

Long-standing India-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation

• MILAN Exercise: Initiated in 1995 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it has developed into a major multilateral naval exercise.
• SIMBEX: Conducted with Singapore since 1994, it is India’s longest uninterrupted naval exercise with another country.
• CORPAT: Coordinated Patrols with regional navies strengthen maritime surveillance and prevent illegal activities.
• ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME): Inaugurated in 2023, it institutionalised maritime cooperation between India and ASEAN members.
  • These initiatives contribute to maritime domain awareness, interoperability, anti-piracy operations, disaster response and regional confidence-building.
• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located near the Malacca Strait, further enhance India’s ability to contribute to maritime security across the eastern Indian Ocean.

Challenges Ahead

• Despite growing strategic convergence, India faces several challenges:
  • China’s Growing Influence: China’s economic and military presence in Southeast Asia limits India’s strategic space.
  • Trade Imbalance: Persistent trade asymmetries and non-tariff barriers constrain the full potential of India-ASEAN economic relations.
  • Connectivity Bottlenecks: Delays in infrastructure projects, particularly in Myanmar, undermine India’s regional connectivity ambitions.
  • ASEAN Divisions: Different threat perceptions among member countries complicate consensus on the South China Sea.
  • Limited Economic Integration: India’s regional trade and investment presence remains below its potential.
  • Geopolitical Uncertainty: Great-power rivalry and instability in West Asia can disrupt maritime trade, energy supplies and regional supply chains.

Way Forward

• Reinvigorate Economic Engagement: Complete the AITIGA review and improve market access for Indian businesses.
• Accelerate Connectivity: Prioritise the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and port connectivity.
• Strengthen Maritime Partnerships: Expand joint exercises, coastal surveillance, information-sharing and capacity-building.
• Promote Digital Cooperation: Scale up DPI partnerships and digital public services while ensuring data protection and cybersecurity.
• Deepen Defence Industrial Cooperation: Expand defence exports, technology transfer and joint production with Southeast Asian countries.
• Maintain ASEAN Centrality: Support ASEAN-led mechanisms and the peaceful resolution of maritime disputes in accordance with international law.
• Leverage Northeast & Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Develop them as gateways for regional trade, connectivity and maritime cooperation.

Conclusion

• Southeast Asia is no longer merely an extension of India’s Act East Policy; it is central to India’s economic resilience, maritime security and strategic positioning. 
• India can contribute to a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific by combining ASEAN-led multilateralism with practical defence partnerships, while safeguarding its national interests and strategic autonomy.

Source: HT