Asean-India partnership a model of cooperation and a work in progress

ASEAN’s dialogue partnership with India celebrates 30 years of existence this year as an effective, functional and mutually beneficial cooperation between neighbouring states. Its uniqueness is that it is socially and culturally organic, linked by the Bay of Bengal, and a shared Asian history.

Still, the two sides need to work harder to overcome the challenges in their path. A new book released last month (October), ‘ASEAN and India: The Way Forward ‘, comes at a propitious moment in their diplomatic relations, assuming even greater significance as a comprehensive study of the subject.

The book is edited by the veteran Singapore diplomat, Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, and two academics, Hernaikh Singh, deputy director at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, and Moe Thuzar, a fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.