The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. Located at the intersection of the Indo-Pacific region, Southeast Asia finds itself at the centre of the emerging great power competition. In that context, the concept of ASEAN Centrality has emerged, which means:

• Without ASEAN, it would not be possible to construct wider regional bodies in the Indo- has emerged, which means: Pacific. ASEAN lies at the core of Asia-Pacific regional institutions, especially the ASEAN Plus Three (APT), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the East Asian Summit (EAS).
• It also implies that Southeast Asia is at the “hub” of Asian regionalist debates and interactions over changing norms and mechanisms for regional cooperation in Asia.

India’s focus on a strengthened and multi-faceted relationship with ASEAN is an outcome of the significant changes in the world’s political and economic scenario since the early 1990s. At present, India accepts ASEAN centrality in its Act East policy and SAGAR initiative.

The centrality of ASEAN bloc in India’s Act East Policy can be understood in following terms:

• The Act East Policy is mainly focused on economic integration and security cooperation in South-East and East Asia, which is not possible without ASEAN’s cooperation.
• Under Act East, India is trying to develop linkages between its North-Eastern part and South East Asian countries like Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
• ASEAN-India connectivity could serve as a basis for Indo-Pacific infrastructure cooperation. The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and its extension to Cambodia, Lao PDR and x Vietnam is pivotal to Act East as well as ASEAN-India relations.
• The other key area of Act East is maritime engagement in the Indo-Pacific. India would need access to strategically located ports of South-East Asia such as Sabang Port of Indonesia, which is close to Malacca strait and need to establish a Maritime Transportation Agreement with ASEAN in response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine is linked to maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean region to counter China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Route, which has both commercial and military implications in the form of String of Pearls strategy. It x also embraces the concept of ASEAN centrality:

• The critical relevance of SAGAR emerges when seen in conjunction with India’s other policies impacting the maritime domain like Act East Policy, SAGARMALA, Project Mausam, India as ‘net security provider’, focus on Blue Economy etc. which symbolise India’s maritime x resurgence.
• India and ASEAN share a vast maritime space in the Indo-Pacific. ASEAN is at the centre of this space, as several ASEAN members namely Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and the Philippines are actively engaged in disputes over the South China Sea.
• A great convergence and synergy exists between ‘ASEAN outlook for the Indo-Pacific’ and India’s ‘Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative’.

The Prime Minister in his keynote address at Shangri La dialogue 2018 had stressed on the centrality of ASEAN as a key element of India’s conception of the Indo-Pacific. Thus, a cohesive and responsive ASEAN is essential for India’s Act East policy and SAGAR initiative. However, ASEAN is itself struggling to retain its internal coherence today. There have been serious differences on how to deal with the military coup in Myanmar. The land-based states such as Cambodia and Laos are indebted towards China and want a softer policy. India’s withdrawal from RCEP and its joining with QUAD is being considered as a potential threat to the ASEAN centrality. In that context, India needs to look beyond ASEAN or make its strategies more transparent.