PM Modi to attend 23rd ASEAN-India Summit in Philippines

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manila to participate in the annual India-ASEAN Summit on November 16 and 17.

• India-ASEAN relations are a central pillar of India’s Act East Policy and the vision for the Indo-Pacific. 

• The visit comes as India and ASEAN are celebrating 2026 as the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation, and will commemorate 35 years of Dialogue Relations.

• ​The ASEAN-India Summit will review progress in the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the ASEAN-India Plan of Action 2026-2030, and chart the future direction of cooperation.

What is ASEAN?

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok by five countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

• There are currently 11 member states: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Timor-Leste.

• The ASEAN Summit is the highest policy-making body in ASEAN comprising the heads of State or government of ASEAN member states. As per regular practice, the ASEAN Summit Meetings shall be held twice annually. The first ASEAN Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia on February 23-24, 1976.

• ASEAN is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region. India and several other countries, including the US, China, Japan and Australia, are its dialogue partners.

• Philippines is the ASEAN Chair for 2026, with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr leading the country’s chairmanship under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together”.

India-ASEAN relations

• ASEAN centrality has been, and will remain, an important aspect of India’s ‘Act East’ policy which is a central element in the country’s foreign policy.

• ASEAN-India dialogue relations have grown rapidly from a sectoral dialogue partnership in 1992 to a full dialogue partnership in December 1995. 

• The relationship was further elevated with the convening of the ASEAN-India Summit in 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Since then the ASEAN-India Summit has been held annually.

• At the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit held in December 2012 in New Delhi, the leaders adopted the ASEAN-India Vision Statement and declared that the ASEAN-India Partnership stands elevated to a ‘Strategic Partnership’. 

• In 2022, ASEAN-India relations were elevated to ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’, that is meaningful, substantive and mutually beneficial.