UPSC foundations · Note 112
India and ASEAN: from Look East to Act East
Study context: GS II — India and its neighbourhood — relations; bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests; effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian Diaspora.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was founded in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and now has ten members, including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and a full dialogue partner in 1995, and held its first summit with ASEAN in 2002. The relationship has since grown into a strategic partnership covering political and security cooperation, trade, connectivity, culture and education.
India's Look East Policy, launched in the early 1990s after economic liberalisation, sought closer economic engagement with Southeast Asia. In 2014 it was renamed the Act East Policy, signalling a more active approach, including stronger connectivity with Northeast India, maritime cooperation, and engagement with the wider Indo-Pacific. The renaming matters because it marks a shift from trade alone to a broader agenda: roads, ports, digital links and security dialogues are treated as part of the same relationship.
Trade and connectivity are central. India and ASEAN have a free trade agreement in goods, in force from 2010, with later agreements on services and investment. Connectivity projects, including the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, aim to link India's Northeast with Southeast Asia by road, although progress has been slower than planned. Maritime cooperation in the South China Sea region, where several ASEAN members have disputes with China, is another shared interest, with India supporting freedom of navigation and a rules-based order under international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The relationship also has limits. Trade between India and ASEAN remains smaller than ASEAN's trade with China, and India chose not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2019, citing concerns about trade deficits and the impact on domestic producers. For civil studies, ASEAN illustrates how India balances economic openness with domestic protection, and how a regional grouping can be a partner in connectivity and security even when trade negotiations stall.
Key takeaways
- ASEAN, founded in 1967, now has ten members; India became a sectoral dialogue partner in 1992, a full dialogue partner in 1995, and held a first summit in 2002.
- The Look East Policy of the early 1990s became the Act East Policy in 2014, broadening the agenda from trade to connectivity and maritime cooperation.
- India-ASEAN trade in goods has operated under a free trade agreement since 2010, while India stayed out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2019.
Why it matters for civil studies
ASEAN shows that regional policy is not only trade: connectivity, maritime rules and the Northeast's geography are part of the same relationship.
Think it through
Should India prioritise connectivity with Southeast Asia through its Northeast, even if trade gains are slower than expected?
From the Public Notes companion study collection. Editorial context and corrections.