It will be a race till the finish line. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a whirlwind visit to Jakarta for the ASEAN-India summit and the East Asia Summit, 48 hours before the G20 Leaders Summit is to begin.
“We are appreciative of Indonesia for making adjustments for the ASEAN schedule,’’ said Saurabh Kumar, Secretary East, Ministry of External Affairs at a special briefing. This is the first ASEAN-India meeting after the elevation of the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which happened last year. “Prime Minister will review the progress in ASEAN-India relations and provide them with further direction. ASEAN is a central pillar in the Act East policy and the wider vision of the Indo-Pacific. India and ASEAN share similar vision in the Indo-Pacific.”
There is the Ukraine crisis, and a growing China. And, with ASEAN facing a crisis within, divided over Myanmar. The military junta has been banned from attending the meeting—and demanding that the military stick to the 5-point peace plan—but Thailand has been pushing engagement. The divisions within, in the face of a rather belligerent China—geopolitics is likely to spill into the summit. The East Asia Summit also comes on the heels of China’s newly released map. India is not the only country that has strongly objected to the map for laying claim to Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh. The map lays claim to the South China Sea as almost entirely China’s. But Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea. Indonesia, too has strongly contested the map.
It is more than likely that these issues will come up at the summit. The East Asia Summit also comes at a time when the tensions over Myanmar have really split ASEAN. The chair, Indonesia, has had a rather difficult job of finding consensus. "ASEAN has agreed to not be a proxy to any powers. Don't turn our ship into an arena for [rivalry] that is destructive," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said. "We, as leaders, have to ensure this ship keeps moving and sailing and we must become its captain to achieve peace, stability, and prosperity together."
