PM Modi's upcoming visit to Laos showcases India's strong support for ASEAN centrality in Indo-Pacific

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Laos this week once again underlines the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries being a significant pillar of India's Act East policy and key partners of New Delhi's Indo-Pacific Vision strongly backed by Prime Minister's Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) initiative.

PM Modi will be in Vientiane on October 10-11 to attend the 21st ASEAN-India Summit and the 19th East Asia Summit at the invitation of his Laos counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, the current chair of ASEAN.

"The ASEAN-India Summit will review progress of India-ASEAN relations through our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and chart the future direction of cooperation. The East Asia Summit, a premier leaders-led forum that contributes to building an environment of strategic trust in the region, provides an opportunity for leaders of EAS Participating Countries, including India, to exchange views on issues of regional importance," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The important visit comes as India marks a decade of its Act East Policy.

With Prime Minister Modi firmly supporting ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN outlook on the region, India has, over the last 10 years, believed that a strong and unified ASEAN plays an important role in the emerging dynamic of the Indo-Pacific.

Last year, PM Modi had travelled to Jakarta just three days ahead of the crucial G20 Leaders' Summit hosted by New Delhi.

His visit to Indonesia in September 2023 for the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit had sent a strong message on the value India attaches to engagement with the countries of the Southeast Asian region and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific under the current geopolitical scenario.

The ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta was also the first since the elevation of India-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022 and charted the future direction of cooperation.

The government led by PM Modi has maintained that India's engagement with the ASEAN has been driven by three goals - enhancing connectivity (physical, digital and people-to-people business) between India and ASEAN; strengthening the ASEAN organisation; and, expanding practical cooperation in the maritime domain.

Several ASEAN member countries, worried about China's strategic expansion into the South China Sea, continue to seek deeper defence engagement with India and like-minded partner countries.

During the ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta, Prime Minister Modi held extensive discussions with ASEAN partners on further strengthening of ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and charting its future course. He had also reaffirmed ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific and highlighted the synergies between India's Indo-Pacific Ocean's Initiative (IPOI) and ASEAN's Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

The Prime Minister's 12-point proposal at the gathering focused on strengthening India–ASEAN cooperation covering connectivity, digital transformation, trade and economic engagement, addressing contemporary challenges, people-to-people contacts and deepening strategic engagement.

"The 21st century is Asia's century. It is our century. For this, it is necessary to build a rule-based post-Covid world order and efforts by all for human welfare. The progress of free and open Indo-Pacific and elevating the Voice of Global South is in the common interest of all," said PM Modi in his opening remarks at the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta on September 7, 2023.

At the 18th East Asia Summit, he reiterated the importance of the EAS mechanism, reaffirmed India's support for ASEAN centrality and called for ensuring a free, open and rules based Indo-Pacific. He also spotlighted the synergies of visions for Indo-Pacific between India and ASEAN, and underscored that ASEAN is the focal point of Quad's vision.

"India believes that the Code of Conduct for South China Sea should be effective and in accordance with UNCLOS. Additionally, it should take into consideration the interests of countries that are not directly involved in the discussions," he remarked at the 18th East Asia Summit.

At a time when the regional landscape is undergoing massive changes with rising instability and uncertainty, Prime Minister Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings on the margins of the summits in Vientiane this week.