ABSTRACT

The ASEAN, as a regional organisation, premised on the precepts of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and commitment to the Principle of Non-intervention, has often been brought to the altar for its inability to unite its members on the SCS issue. In fact, the issue seems to challenge the underlying, embryonic concept of regional cooperation and integration as an instrument of consolidating Southeast Asia’s position in the regional architecture. ASEAN has been blamed for its incompetence in challenging China’s hegemonic ambitions in the SCS littorals. The challenges to ASEAN centrality and leadership test the vitality of its norms and identity, and its ability to reconcile the opposing strains of adherence to the normative motivations contained in the ASEAN Way, on the one hand, and the primacy of individual national interests of the member-states, on the other. In this context, the chapter analyses whether ASEAN’s policy towards the SCS has actually served China’s cause and its impact on India’s interests and strategy.