India and the ASEAN gambit<\/p>\n
The importance of a positive ambience for ASEAN's exchanges
\nwith India cannot be exaggerated. It is worth recalling how ASEAN
\nhad taken a dim view of the nuclear weaponization experiments
\nthat India conducted in May 1998. At an ARF meeting held in
\nManila about two months later in the same year, India made a
\ndramatic pitch for a confidence-building measure by offering to
\nacknowledge and respect the sanctity of Southeast Asia as a
\nnuclear-weapons-free zone. If, however, India has not yet been
\nable to accede to a relevant protocol, the reason simply is that
\nASEAN's prevailing diplomatic culture and existing mechanisms
\ncall for such a commitment by the five designated nuclear powers
\nand not India or Pakistan. Yet, peace between India and Pakistan
\nis a matter of abiding importance to ASEAN in the larger regional
\nand global context.<\/p>\n
India's \"look East\" policy, whose centerpiece consists of the
\nrelationship with ASEAN and its sub-regions, has for most part
\nremained a matter of high intentions. Yet, some definitive new
\nbeginnings may take shape. Mr. K. C. Pant, India's chief delegate
\nto the meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the annual
\ndialogue with the South East-Asian outfit, has now offered to
\nintensify New Delhi's interactions with ASEAN in the information
\ntechnology sector (IT), a well recognized area of India's
\nstrength.<\/p>\n
In line with the normal practices of ASEAN, its latest
\nministerial-level meetings were dominated by economic issues. On
\nthe political front, ASEAN remained eager to fashion a code of
\nconduct in the South China Sea and reaffirmed that peace in East
\nAsia would depend on the triangular power-equation involving the
\nU.S., China and Japan. Not surprisingly, the U.S.-China
\nengagement was the bilateral event that attracted the greatest
\nattention on the sidelines of the latest ARF meeting in Hanoi.<\/p>\n
Now, although India is generally seen as a factor for
\nstability in South-East Asia, ASEAN surely has many political
\nconsiderations to sort out before it can respond positively to
\nNew Delhi's bid to engage the association in summit-level talks
\nin the manner of China, Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n
-- The Hindu, New Delhi<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/india-and-the-asean-gambit-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }