Modi to attend ASEAN-India and East Asia summits in Manila

TL;DR in 30 sec

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manila, the capital of the Philippines, on 16 and 17 November, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on 12 November.
• He will attend the 23rd ASEAN-India Summit and the 21st East Asia Summit on 17 November, hosted by the Philippines as this year’s ASEAN Chair, according to the MEA.
• Maritime security and trade and investment ties will be among the main areas of focus, Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon said, as reported by The Hindu.
• The MEA said it had no information yet on a meeting of Quad leaders in Manila, though Hindustan Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that one is expected.

What happened

The MEA announced the visit in a press release on 12 November. He is going at the invitation of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the ministry said.

At a special briefing the same evening, Tandon outlined the programme. On the first day, Modi will attend a dinner hosted by President Marcos for the visiting leaders, according to the MEA transcript. On the second day, he will attend the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit, with one-on-one meetings with other leaders in between. Tandon said those meetings had not been fixed yet.

He also said there was “a very strong demand from the Indian community to meet the Prime Minister” and that the ministry was trying to fit this into the schedule.

The MEA said the ASEAN-India Summit will review progress on the two sides’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the ASEAN-India Plan of Action 2026–2030. The East Asia Summit will let leaders exchange views on regional and global issues, the ministry said.

The two summits are part of the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, which the Philippines is hosting in Manila from 15 to 17 November, Bernama reported, citing the Philippines News Agency. More than 20 leaders are expected, according to the same report.

Why it matters for India 🇮🇳

The MEA called relations with ASEAN “a central pillar” of India’s Act East Policy and its vision for the Indo-Pacific. Annual trade between India and ASEAN member states is worth about $122 billion, Hindustan Times reported.

Tandon described the 11-member group as a “locomotive for peace, stability and economic prosperity”, Hindustan Times reported. He said a strong relationship with ASEAN would make India more resilient to rapid geopolitical changes, according to the MEA transcript.

Maritime cooperation came up again and again. The MEA said India and ASEAN have marked 2026 as the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.

Tandon pointed to coordinated patrolling and maritime domain awareness (keeping track of activity at sea) to counter piracy and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, Hindustan Times reported. He also mentioned the agreement under which India supplies BrahMos cruise missiles to the Philippines, according to the newspaper.

Background

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, was set up in 1967, Tandon noted at the briefing. India is one of its dialogue partners, along with countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia, The Hindu reported.

The East Asia Summit began in 2005 and is a forum for security and defence issues in the Asia-Pacific, according to The Hindu. Besides the ASEAN members, it includes India, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Russia, the newspaper reported.

The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) came into force in 2010, Hindustan Times reported. Its review began six years ago, largely because of India’s concerns about a trade gap, with imports from ASEAN member states of more than $80 billion, according to the newspaper.

In 2027, India and ASEAN will mark 35 years of dialogue relations and five years of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the MEA said.

Different perspectives

India’s position, as stated by the MEA. Tandon said India wants the review of AITIGA completed “as soon as possible”, and called multilateral trade talks “far more difficult” because a consensus is needed among many members, according to the transcript. On Myanmar, he said isolating the country “is not the right approach” and that India backs ASEAN’s efforts to engage its government. On a code of conduct for the South China Sea, which ASEAN and China are negotiating, he said any such code must follow international maritime law, in particular UNCLOS.

The host’s aims. Philippine officials said they want the summit to show the country’s readiness for new investment and partnerships, Bernama reported, citing the Philippines News Agency. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Leo Herrera-Lim said the summit is expected to produce the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which the report described as the first binding region-wide deal on the digital economy. Leaders of all ASEAN states except Myanmar, which will be represented by a career diplomat, have confirmed attendance, according to the same report.

On the Quad. The Hindu reported that Modi is set to join the leaders of Australia, Japan and the US for a Quad summit, but noted there was no official word. Hindustan Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the US is set to host the first Quad leaders’ summit since September 2024 in Manila. Tandon said the ministry had “no information” on it at the moment.

The sources carried no response from ASEAN members to India’s position on the trade pact review.

Open questions 🤔

• Will the leaders of India, Australia, Japan and the US hold a Quad summit in Manila?
• Which leaders will Modi meet one-on-one in Manila, and will one of them be US President Donald Trump?
• Will the Manila summit bring the review of the ASEAN-India trade-in-goods agreement closer to an end?

What to watch next

The 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits run in Manila from 15 to 17 November, according to Bernama. Modi is due to attend President Marcos’s dinner on 16 November and the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit on 17 November, the MEA said. The ministry said it would share an update on the Quad when it has one.