India-Vietnam Strategic Partnership and ASEAN

Abstract

India Vietnam relations have weathered the pre and post-Cold War world order and have remained unaffected with the disintegration of erstwhile Soviet Union and the emergence of unipolar world. The new configuration which is likely to emerge with China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) and the emergence of an alternate order in the form of BRICS would have an effect on the trajectory of this relations, but given the fact that both countries are balancing their interests between China and the US, it shows that ASEAN centrality would remain core to their interests in the Southeast Asian region for the future. The two countries have joined ASEAN as a member and dialogue partner in 1990s, thereby undermining the Cold War configuration. The two countries have elevated their partnership and are destined to play a more proactive role in ASEAN. This paper outlines the bilateral relationship and argues that ASEAN would be an important platform for interaction and exchange of views between the two nations.