Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

• HQ at Jakarta (Indonesia); Established in 1967 in Bangkok via Bangkok Declaration
• Founding Fathers of ASEAN → Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand
• Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam

ASEAN follows the principle of “ASEAN way” viz.

• Musyawarah And Mufakat [Consultation and Agreement]
• Don’t use force / confrontation
• Don’t interfere in the internal matters of states
• Informal discussion
• Minimal institutionalization

To achieve “ASEAN way”, Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) was signed, to which India also acceded in 2003 viz.

• They’ll not interfere in the internal affairs of one another,
• They’ll not use threat or use of force to settle differences / disputes
• They’ll settle of differences or disputes by peaceful means,
• They’ll effectively cooperate among themselves.
• They’ll mutually respect each other’s’ independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity
• Every State has right lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion

Evolution of ASEAN

Timeline of India – ASEAN Relations

ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) – 1994

• Dialogue platform between the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and its full dialogue partners
• To provide diplomatic solutions to regional problems.

ARF Procedure

• Annual ARF meeting at the level of Ministers
• Track-1 Diplomacy – ARF Senior Officials’ Meeting discussing security measures
• Track-2 Diplomacy – Seminars of scholars and officials from member states
• Annual inter-sessional meetings on Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy

ARF Vision 2020

• Regional security challenges & measures
• Confidence building and cooperation

Hanoi Plan of Action (POA) to implement Vision 2020 involving concrete and practical actions in the fields of:

• Disaster relief
• Maritime security
• Non-proliferation and Disarmament
• Counter-terrorism
• Peacekeeping

India and ARF

• Member of the ARF since 1996
• Our participation is consistent with our “Look East” policy, and development of closer links with the ASEAN as a full-dialogue partner.
• We’ve co-chaired ARF Inter-sessional Support Group (ARF-ISG) on CBMs  and Preventive Diplomacy
• We’ve organized several seminars, workshops and training programmes for ARF Members viz.

• UN Peacekeeping course at Delhi
• Maritime security training course at Chennai
• Anti-piracy training at Mumbai by Coast Guard
• Cyber security