India-ASEAN Partnership Emerging as Pillar of Global Stability and Growth: PM Modi
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the India-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is fast becoming a key pillar for global stability and growth.
Addressing the annual India-ASEAN Summit virtually, Modi reaffirmed that ASEAN remains central to India’s Act East Policy and its broader vision for the Indo-Pacific.
“India has always fully supported ASEAN centrality and ASEAN’s outlook on the Indo-Pacific,” the Prime Minister said, highlighting the enduring strength of the partnership even amid global uncertainty.
“Our strong partnership is emerging as a powerful foundation for global stability and growth,” Modi noted, emphasizing India’s steadfast support for its ASEAN partners in times of crisis.
Announcing a new initiative to deepen maritime collaboration, Modi declared that 2026 will be celebrated as the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.
He said cooperation in key areas such as maritime security, blue economy, education, tourism, science and technology, health, green energy, and cybersecurity is expanding rapidly. “We will continue to work together to preserve our shared cultural heritage and strengthen people-to-people ties,” he added.
ASEAN, one of the most influential regional groupings, counts India along with the US, China, Japan, and Australia as dialogue partners.
India’s engagement with ASEAN began in 1992 as a sectoral partnership, upgraded to a full dialogue partnership in 1995, and elevated to the summit level in 2002. The relationship reached a strategic partnership in 2012, marking steady growth over the decades.
In recent years, India-ASEAN ties have gained significant momentum, with greater focus on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, defence, and security.
