22nd India-ASEAN Summit

ASEAN-India Summit 2025: Maritime Cooperation and Trade Relations Wrestle Under an Expanding Framework

When the Prime Minister proposed designating 2026 as the “ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation” at the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit in Malaysia last week, it signaled an intent to tether India's Indo-Pacific vision closer to the major sea lanes. Yet, behind these proclamations, an uncomfortable gap lingers—India's widening trade deficit with ASEAN, now surpassing ₹3,67,000 crore in FY2023, coupled with a faltering Free Trade Agreement.

Defining the Pattern Shift

This summit is not just another checklist moment in diplomatic annuals. The Malaysian Chair’s theme of “Inclusivity and Sustainability” coincided with India’s promotion of tighter maritime cooperation, sustainable tourism, and defense dialogues. Such initiatives underline a conscious pivot to place ASEAN at the heart of India's geopolitical and geoeconomic ambitions. The decision to host the East Asia Summit Maritime Heritage Festival at Lothal, Gujarat—one of India's oldest port cities—interweaves maritime heritage with contemporary strategy, likely seeking ASEAN buy-in for India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine.

But the renewed focus also breaks from India's prior limited playbook. Maritime collaboration is now joined by specific multilateral action items: the adoption of the 2026–2030 ASEAN-India Plan of Action, sustainable tourism declarations, and second-round maritime/defense exercises. These represent attempts to elevate the partnership beyond bilateral rhetoric and into practical multilateralism. The Philippines' assumption of ASEAN Chairmanship next year—a country often vocal about Indo-Pacific anxieties vis-à-vis China—might reinforce this line.

The Institutional Machinery Underpinning the Summit

India's overarching policy framework on ASEAN stems from two distinct ideological frameworks: the Look East Policy (1990s) and its successor, the Act East Policy (2014). Coupled with a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership formalized in **2022**, this summit fits neatly within India's narrative of facilitating "shared prosperity and security" across Asia.

Trade mechanics remain anchored to the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area (AIFTA), legitimized by the 2003 Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation. However, there is a mismatch: while the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (since 2010) benefited ASEAN's exports to India significantly, India's reciprocal gains have been constrained. Provisions for services liberalization—in areas like IT and healthcare—remain underutilized despite the Trade in Services Agreement (2014).

Furthermore, India has pushed for tighter Rules of Origin (RoO) criteria under the AIFTA to curb circumvention tactics that see Chinese goods rerouted through ASEAN to India—a loophole that undermines domestic manufacturing goals embedded in Make in India. The summit's declaration calling for an early review of AITIGA (ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement) is overdue, yet implementation may encounter the same bureaucratic delays seen since 2020.

The Data Tells an Uneasy Story

India’s trade deficit with ASEAN widened significantly over the past decade—from US$7.5 billion in 2011 to US$44 billion in 2023. Imports grew by 234.4% between FY2009 and FY2023 compared to just a 130.4% rise in exports, showing clear asymmetry. Much of this comes from cheap ASEAN agricultural goods—palm oil, rubber, spices—that outcompete Indian produce.

Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) further complicate India’s export landscape. High phytosanitary standards imposed by ASEAN on Indian agricultural goods and opaque licensing norms for pharmaceuticals nullify tariff concessions. For instance, India’s pharmaceutical exports to ASEAN face stringent regulatory hurdles despite global competitiveness in the sector.

With connectivity promising to alleviate some disparities, India has committed to projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport. Yet delays in completion—both infrastructure and political—mute their intended impact on trade flows.

The Uncomfortable Questions

What no summit leader admits publicly is India's relative weak negotiating leverage within ASEAN bloc discussions. ASEAN acts as a cohesive group, while India remains a single-party negotiator. This structural imbalance underpins why India struggles to secure reciprocal market access in sectors like professional services or agricultural exports.

Does India's Act East Policy overpromise what its institutional machinery can deliver? Delayed connectivity projects, underutilized trade agreements, and gaps in diplomatic follow-through mirror wider administrative inefficiencies seen in infrastructure development across India's states. Much depends now on whether 2026’s Maritime Cooperation or defense dialogues produce tangible security gains—not just symbolic moments.

Further, the designation of the Maritime Heritage Festival at Lothal raises one pointed concern. ASEAN member states will likely view such events as peripheral to critical talks about security threats or tariff structures. It begs the question: is India’s strategy using aesthetic maneuvers to mask economic imbalances?

Lessons from South Korea

South Korea's ASEAN strategy during 2018–2020 offers sharp contrasts. Seoul focused on building bilateral and trilateral digital economy agreements under its New Southern Policy, targeting ASEAN’s need for tech investments. In less than 3 years, South Korea signed sector-specific FTA chapters with ASEAN—covering fast-tracked e-commerce rules and streamlined digital trade policies. India’s slower pace at strategic economic convergence exposes its bureaucratic bottlenecks.

Exam Questions

• Prelims MCQ 1: When was the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) Framework Agreement signed?
• A) 1992
• B) 2003
• C) 2010
• D) 2014
• Answer: B) 2003

• Prelims MCQ 2: Which ASEAN country will take over the Chairmanship in 2026?
• A) Singapore
• B) Malaysia
• C) Philippines
• D) Indonesia
• Answer: C) Philippines

Mains Question: To what extent has the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) addressed trade imbalances between India and ASEAN? Critically evaluate its structural limitations alongside emerging geopolitical priorities.

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