At the 34th ASEAN summit in Bangkok, the leaders of the 10-nation grouping finally came out with their positions on the Indo-Pacific region in a document titled ‘ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific’. The Outlook “envisages ASEAN Centrality as the underlying principle for promoting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, with ASEAN-led mechanisms… as platforms for dialogue and implementation of the Indo-Pacific cooperation”. Strikingly, no countries have been named in the ASEAN Outlook. There is great similarity and parallel in both thought and approach between the Indian and ASEAN positions on the Indo-Pacific Region. A Track-1 India-ASEAN Indo-Pacific dialogue should be instituted at the earliest.

Source: Indian Express July 02, 2019 20:26 UTC