ABSTRACT
ASEAN has long been a vital, if not central, regional actor in Asia, recognized for its unique ability to draw together regional powers in wide-ranging and comprehensive multilateral forums. The recent geopolitical tensions in the region, with respect to the rapid rise of China as a military and economic power, have only stressed the importance of ASEAN centrality and its critical role in the region. This chapter expands on the concept of ASEAN centrality and examines how two of Asia’s closest partners, and key regional powers, India and Japan, perceive and treat ASEAN centrality in their respective foreign policy outlooks. Further, the chapter highlights two key research questions to set the tone for the volume: How ASEAN centrality can become a chief point of focus for the three partners, and what are the areas wherein the India-Japan-ASEAN triangularity can form a continental connect. It identifies and briefly assesses three key points of synergy between the three actors – the connectivity ambit, maritime security ambit, and geopolitical ambit – which form the key focus areas of the book.
