ASEAN’s Reclamation of Indo-Pacific

What is the issue?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)is intending to reclaim its position in Indo-Pacific region.

What is the current situation?

Thegeopolitical contestation between China and the U.S. is escalatingin the Indo-Pacific region now.
So, it has become imperative for the ASEAN to underscore its centrality in the emerging regional order.
The ASEAN member states have finally managed to articulate a collective vision for the region in its non-binding document.
It istitled as “The ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific”.

What the document is about?

It underlines the need for an inclusive and rules-based frameworkto generate momentum for building strategic trust and win-win cooperation in the region.
It says that the rise of material powers (economic and military)requires avoiding the deepening of mistrust, miscalculation and patterns of behaviour based on a zero-sum game.

What is its significance?

It could complement existing frameworks of cooperation at the regional and sub-regional levels.
It could generate tangible and concrete deliverables for the benefit of the region’s peoples.
Despite individual differences and bilateral engagementsASEAN states have with the U.S. and China, the regional grouping can now claim to have a common approach as far as the Indo-Pacific region is concerned.
Though there were divisions among ASEAN member states in the run-up to the summit, they still managed to come up with this document.

What is the significance of the China Sea?

South China Sea is an increasingly contested maritime space, claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
So, it is interesting that these ASEAN members have agreed to push for a quick conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the region.
It has been pushed into articulating its formal response after other major regional players began laying their cards on the table.

Who are the regional players trying to influence?

United States of America (USA) – U.S. Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy report which focusses on preserving a FOIP in the face of a more “assertive China”.
Japan – Released its Free and Open Indo-Pacific concept in 2016.
Australia - Released its Foreign Policy White Paper in 2017, detailing its Indo-Pacific vision centred around security, openness and prosperity.
India –Indo-Pacific vision was shownat the Shangri-la Dialogue, 2018.
India even setup an Indo-Pacific wing in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier this year.

Why was ASEAN reluctant to engage before?

ASEAN had the perceptionthat it may antagonise China if it engages with the Indo-Pacific discourse.
But there was soon a realisation that such an approach might allow others to shape the regional architecture and marginalise the ASEAN.

What is the framework of the outlook?

It doesn’t see the Indo-Pacific as one continuous territorial space.
It emphasises development and connectivity, underlining the need for maritime cooperation, infrastructure connectivity and broader economic cooperation.
The ASEAN says, it would seek to avoid making the region a platform for major power competition.
Instead its frame of reference is economic cooperation and dialogue.
Aim of ASEAN’s approach– PlacatingChina by not allowing itself to align with the U.S.’s vision for the region completely.

What is India’s stance?

India has welcomed the ASEAN’s outlook as it sees “important elements of convergence” with its own approach towards the region.
India is trying to carefully calibrate its relations with the U.S. and China in this region.
On the sidelines of the recent G-20 Summit in Japan,India held discussions on the Indo-Pacific region with U.S. and Japan, with a focus on improving regional connectivity and infrastructure development.

Source: The Hindu

Quick Facts

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

ASEAN is a group of 10 member countries that encourages political, economic, and social cooperation in the South East Asian region.
Members – BruneiDarussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
1 Observer – Papua New Guinea.
Objectives – As per theASEAN Declaration,
1. To accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region.
2. To promote regional peace and stability.

Zero-sum game

In game theory and economic theory, a zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant's gain or loss of utility is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the utility of the other participants.
If the total gains of the participants are added up and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero.