Dialogue (QUAD) · Part 2

in East Asia including ( ™ the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), ™ the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and ™ the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA). Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA) ™ It aims to establish a multifaceted USA strategy to increase USA security, economic interests, and values in the Indo-Pacific region. ™ The new law mandates actions countering China’s illegal construction and militarization of artificial features in the South China Sea and coercive economic practices. ™ ARIA recognizes the vital role of the strategic partnership between the USA and India in promoting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and it calls for strengthening diplomatic, economic, and security ties between both the countries. ™ USA recently renamed its strategically important Pacific Command (PACOM) as the USA Indo-Pacific Command, indicating that for USA government, East Asia and the Indian Ocean Region are gradually becoming a single competitive space and India is a key partner in its strategic planning. ™ USA launched Indo-Pacific Business Forum as an economic pillar for country’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. Although India’s Association with South- East Asian Countries has been for centuries, its recent initiative towards engaging South- East Asia started in the early ’90s. India’s new growth story in the ’90s made India take interests on its new initiative “Look- East policy” and began reviving its economic relations with South-East Asia. Meanwhile, having been for years influenced by China and other western partners, ASEAN too realized the importance of India as the third- largest economy in Asia and an emerging regional power. This understanding led to the acceptance of India as ASEAN’s sectoral partner in early and its full dialogue partner in July . The Look East Policy over the years has matured into an action- oriented programme, namely ‘Act East Policy’. The Prime Minister of India at the th ASEAN India Summit and the th East Asia Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in November , formally enunciated the Act East Policy. India’s relationship with ASEAN is one of the key pillars of India’s foreign