India-ASEAN relation in a contested indo-pacific region

India-ASEAN relations have undergone a significant transformation since the end of the Cold War, evolving from limited cultural engagement to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The launch of India’s Look East Policy in 1991, institutionalised India’s engagement with Southeast Asia. This paper examines the evolving India-ASEAN partnership within the broader context of the Indo-Pacific, a region increasingly shaped by maritime dynamics and intensifying great power competition. The study focuses on maritime cooperation as a central pillar of India-ASEAN engagement, highlighting the convergence between India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). The paper also assesses the implications of emerging strategic groupings like the QUAD and AUKUS, evaluating whether these arrangements undermine or complement ASEAN centrality. The paper argues that despite concerns over the erosion of ASEAN centrality, ASEAN remains indispensable to the evolving Indo-Pacific architecture due to its geographical and institutional centrality.