INDIA - ASEAN RELATION

India has been following a "Look East Policy" since 1990s. There has been steady progress in the India-ASEAN relationship since the policy was initiated in 1991. India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992, which was upgraded to full dialogue partnership in 1996. Since 2002, we have had annual Summits with ASEAN. To mark the 20th anniversary of our dialogue-level partnership and the 10th anniversary of our Summit-level partnership with ASEAN, India would be hosting the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on the theme "India and ASEAN: Partners in Progress and Prosperity" in New Delhi on December 20-21, 2012.

2. India-ASEAN functional cooperation is diverse and includes cooperation across a range of sectors, such as trade, science & technology, human resource development, health and pharmaceuticals, space sciences, agriculture, new and renewable energy, information and communication technology, telecommunications, transport and infrastructure, and tourism and culture.

3. At the 7th India-ASEAN Summit in October, 2009, India announced a contribution of US$ 50 million to the India-ASEAN Co-operation Fund to support India-ASEAN projects across the range of sectors mentioned above. In addition, the India-ASEAN Science &Technology Fund has been set up with an initial corpus fund of US $ 1 million. Further, India has set up a US$ 5 million India-ASEAN Green Fund for pilot projects to promote adaptation and mitigation technologies in the field of climate change.

4. The total trade between India and ASEAN increased by 30% in 2010-11, reaching US$ 57.89 billion. At the ASEAN-India Economic Ministerial Meeting held in Bangkok, the India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement was signed on 13 August, 2009. It has been implemented by India and all ten ASEAN Member States since 1 August, 2011.

5. Co-operation between India and ASEAN is being intensified, including in the cultural, educational and academic fields, through the promotion of people-to-people contacts, and initiatives such as the Eminent Persons Lecture Series, Youth Exchange Programmes, Special Training Courses for ASEAN Diplomats and Media Exchange Programmes. India has established Centres for English Language training (CELT) and Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDC) in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV countries). 6. The Indian Parliamentary delegation attended the 31st General Assembly of ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 20-25 September, 2010, where India was accorded "Observer Status" by AIPA. The Indian Parliamentary delegation also attended the 32nd General Assembly of AIPA held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 18-24 September 2011.

7. An ASEAN-India Eminent Persons Group (AIEPG) has been set up to draft a new India-ASEAN Vision - 2020 document to be adopted at the Commemorative Summit. The first and second meetings of the AIEPG were held in Phnom Penh from August 2-3, 2011 and New Delhi from 20-21 October, 2011 respectively. The third meeting is scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur from March 9-10, 2012.

8. An India-ASEAN Business Summit and Exhibition was held from March 2-6, 2011 at New Delhi. Delhi Dialogue-III, a 'Regional Security and Cooperation Dialogue', was also held back-to-back with the Business Summit. The Secretary-General of ASEAN visited India to grace this occasion.

9. Delhi Dialogue IV on the theme "India and ASEAN: Partners for Peace, Progress and Stability" was held from February 13-14, 2012 in New Delhi. The visit of the ASEAN Committee of Representatives(CPR)s to India from February 12-17, 2012 coincided with Delhi-Dialogue IV.

10. At the 8th India-ASEAN Summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in October, 2010, Prime Minister announced the extension of Visa on Arrival facility to Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines and Laos with effect from January 1, 2011. In fulfillment of this announcement, India has extended visa on arrival facility to six ASEAN countries, namely, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

11. A MoU on Strengthening Tourism Co-operation between India and ASEAN was signed at the India-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Tourism on January 12, 2012, in Manado, Indonesia.

12. The 9th India-ASEAN Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia on 19 November, 2011. The Leaders took stock of the progress made in the India-ASEAN relationship and agreed to enhance co-operation on a range of issues, including trade, maritime security, food and energy security, and physical and people-to-people connectivity. They reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen India-ASEAN cooperation, through the implementation of the Plan of Action 2010-15, in the run-up to the Commemorative Summit.