Enhancing India’s role in the Indo-Pacific

On September 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 20th ASEAN-India summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, where leaders held extensive discussions regarding bolstering the ASEAN-India relationship in the Indo-Pacific. Modi remarked on the “unison in the vision of India and ASEAN for the Indo-Pacific”. India’s increasing development and maritime diplomacy in the Southeast Asian region suggests that the ASEAN-India relationship in the Indo-Pacific region is becoming stronger, underpinned by a convergence of interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Modi’s ‘Act East’ policy focuses on political and security relations with the region, and constitutes enhancing India’s role in the Indo-Pacific. It is intended to ensure that the Indo-Pacific regional order is favourable to India. Therefore, part of India’s engagement with ASEAN is a step in enhancing India’s role in the Indo-Pacific.

At the ASEAN-India summit, Modi said that ASEAN played “...a key role in India’s Indo-Pacific strategy”. He also mentioned that the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) both confirmed the centrality of the Indo-Pacific in geopolitical affairs. Modi’s 12-point plan to strengthen ASEAN-India co-operation includes enhancing connectivity and infrastructure between Asia and Europe, co-operating on maritime security and domain awareness, and initiating joint advocacy for the Global South.

India’s growing role in Southeast Asia as a security partner underpins a stronger ASEAN-India relationship in the Indo-Pacific. As part of its diplomatic and constabulary maritime co-operation activities, in May 2022 India ‘gifted’ a missile corvette, INS Kirpan, to Vietnam, as well as discussed with Hanoi stepping-up training of Vietnamese personnel in areas including submarine and fighter jet operations, cyber-security and electronic warfare. The same year, India also extended a $100 million line of credit to Vietnam for building high-speed guard boats.

Last month, the Indian Coast Guard signed an MoU with the Philippine Coast Guard to enhance maritime co-operation. India recently finalised a sale of the BrahMos missiles to the Philippines; the latter also showed interest in procuring a range of other advanced equipment. India is reportedly also in discussions with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam for new BrahMos orders.

In 2022, India and ASEAN elevated the ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. In May, India and ASEAN inaugurated the ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME). The drill’s sea phase was held in the South China Sea, where navies focused on building maritime interoperability in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, maritime law enforcement, and other maritime confidence-building measures.

There is also diplomatic convergence between India and Southeast Asia on the challenges that China poses to the Indo-Pacific. China’s release of its new map claiming numerous disputed areas — including in the South China Sea, Arunachal Pradesh, and Taiwan — has led to diplomatic alarm in Southeast Asia.

While ASEAN has held a lukewarm response on the issuance — perhaps demonstrating its lack of unanimity over the China challenge — the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brunei spoke out against China’s issuance of the map, citing concerns about sovereignty, and international law. That finds convergence with India’s interests.

In June, India took a tougher stance on Chinese activities in the South China Sea by calling for ‘adherence’ to the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea, which rejected Chinese claims in the South China Sea region. In contrast, India’s response to the ruling in 2016 was merely ‘noting’ the award. The reversal indicates that India’s neutrality over Chinese aggression in the South China Sea may be changing, and that it may aspire to take a stricter posture.

The Jakarta summit also indicated their commitment to co-operating over the ‘Indo’ leg of the Indo-Pacific. Five of its members are considered Indian Ocean littoral states. ASEAN aspires to play a firmer role in the Indian Ocean Region, as the ASEAN Maritime Outlook as well as the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Maritime Cooperation indicates.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s emphasis on the blue economy in the context of the ASEAN-India co-operation in the Indian Ocean is innovative, as it complements India’s efforts in the region with the Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) initiative. ASEAN’s latest MoU with the Indian Ocean Rim Association is a welcome step.

A stronger ASEAN-India relationship enables a stable Indo-Pacific region amid a superpower competition. It is critically underpinned by India’s greater engagement with Southeast Asia.

(Bharat Sharma is a Research Analyst in the Indo-Pacific Studies Programme, Takshashila Institution.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.