PM Modi virtually participated in the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit in Malaysia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually participated in the 47th ASEAN Summit 2025 and the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit held in Malaysia on October 26, 2025. During the event, he announced that 2026 would be celebrated as the “ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.”

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually participated in the 47th ASEAN Summit 2025 and the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit held in Malaysia on October 26, 2025.
• Speaking at the summit, he said, “The 21st century is our century. It is the century of India and ASEAN. I believe that the vision of ‘ASEAN Community Vision 2045’ and ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ will create a bright future for all humanity.”

‘ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation’

• He also announced that 2026 would be celebrated as the “ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation,” marking a new phase of bilateral cooperation in the Indian Ocean.
• Malaysia is the ASEAN chair for the year 2025, and the Philippines will assume the chairmanship in 2026.
• The 21st ASEAN-India Summit was held on October 10, 2024, in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
• In a major development, Timor-Leste was formally inducted into ASEAN, bringing the group’s membership to 11.
• The Ministry stated that strengthening relations with ASEAN is a key pillar of India’s Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific vision. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar will represent Prime Minister Modi at the 20th East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 27.

ASEAN-India

• India formally engaged with ASEAN as a “Sectoral Dialogue Partner” in 1992 (at the Secretary-level talks) and subsequently as a “Dialogue Partner” in 1995.
• Prime Minister Modi has participated in all ASEAN-India Summits (and the commemorative summit held in New Delhi in January 2018) since 2014, except in 2022. At the commemorative summit held in New Delhi in January 2018, leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries graced India’s 69th Republic Day Parade as chief guests.
• ASEAN is India’s fourth-largest trading partner. The ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC) was established in 2005 with the objective of promoting closer business ties.
• Regional connectivity: India is working to enhance connectivity with ASEAN countries through projects like the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway, the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, etc.

ASEAN

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional grouping aimed at promoting economic and security cooperation among its ten members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Establishment: It was established on August 8, 1967, in Bangkok, Thailand.
• Motto: ASEAN’s motto is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community.”
• Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), 1961: Formed by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to promote economic, cultural, and social cooperation.
• Secretariat: The ASEAN Secretariat is located in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• The first ASEAN Summit was held in February 1976 in Bali, Indonesia.