25 Years of India-ASEAN Economic Co-operation

India has always stood for an open, equitable, predictable, non-discriminatory and rule-based international trading system. It views regional trade agreements (RTAs) as building blocks in the overall objective of trade liberalisation as well as complementing the multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization (WTO). India has been actively engaging in regional and bilateral trade negotiations with a view to diversify and expand the markets for its exports as well as ensuring access to raw materials, intermediates and capital goods for stimulating value added domestic manufacturing. India unveiled its Look East policy in 1991. East Asia (including Japan, China, South Korea and ASEAN) is today Indias largest trading partner. Indias engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) started with its Look East policy. ASEAN has a membership of 10 countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. India became a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN in 1992 and Full Dialogue Partner in 1996. In November 2001, the ASEAN-India relationship was upgraded to the summit level. Heads of State/Government of the Member States of ASEAN and the Republic of India gathered in New Delhi on 25 January 2018 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations under the theme of Shared Values, Common Destiny. They reaffirmed their commitment to guide ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations by the principles, shared values and norms enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. This book traces the course of India-ASEAN economic relations, focusing on trade. It provides an in-depth analysis of trade flows between India and the ASEAN countries in recent years.