SINGAPORE: The achievements in 20 years of ties between ASEAN and dialogue partner India will be celebrated with a commemorative summit in New Delhi on Thursday.
ASEAN leaders and their Indian host, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are expected to adopt the "ASEAN-India Vision Statement" charting the future direction of their ties at the summit.
India started its Look East policy in 1992 under the late Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. At that time, Dr Manmohan Singh was the finance minister in the Indian Cabinet.
Since then there has been no turning back on India's ties with ASEAN.
India joined the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1996 and the East Asia Summit in 2005.
At the commemorative summit, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected to reiterate the Republic's support for India's continued engagement of the region, its participation in the ASEAN-led forums and India's contributions to the ASEAN Community-building efforts.
Mr Gopinath Pillai, chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore, describes the role India can play in the region.
Mr Pillai said: "From Singapore's point of view, the involvement of all the major countries is vital and India is a major player. So we would like to see India being very involved so that all the powers have a stake here and the region will prosper.
"India's business interests will grow. As it is, Southeast Asia has become a focus area for Indian businessmen -- either to directly invest in Southeast Asia or use Southeast Asia to go into other countries. It will take time but it is happening."
But there are some who still feel that India's ties with ASEAN are moving too slowly, said Mr Pillai.
Mr Pillai added: "But one has to take into account the composition of the two sides. On the ASEAN side, we have ten members and we have to reach consensus before we can move forward. On the Indian side, they have their own pre-occupations in the region, domestically, so that also delays the process."
However, growth in one area between the two sides has been significant, said observers, and that is in the area of two-way trade.
ASEAN-India total trade reached US$75 billion last year, 43 percent more than what was achieved in 2010.
And one project which economists said needs more push is the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement.
Negotiations on the Services and Investment Agreements are still going on, said the former chief mentor of the Confederation of Indian Industries, Tarun Das.
Mr Tarun Das said: "When we are negotiating between ten countries on one side and one country on the other side, there are 11 countries involved, and each country is different -- each country has its own strengths, weaknesses and its own concerns.
"What you are seeing is an engagement to try and address all concerns, work out compromised solutions, find the right language to be with each one's agendas and issues.'
The leaders of ASEAN and India have set a new target of achieving US$100 billion in trade between both sides by 2015.
- CNA/lp
ASEAN-India commemorative summit to chart future ties
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ASEAN-India commemorative summit to chart future ties
