Kuala Lumpur, July 26: When India was admitted into the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) last July, observers in the Asia-Pacific region were unequivocal in their belief that the step would be a major watershed in the future trajectory of the fledgling security grouping. They highlighted the contributions a country of India's magnitude and stature could make to the translation of ARF's objectives into practice.

Indeed, many of the concerns that will preoccupy the proceedings of the fourth ARF meeting scheduled for Sunday are areas of great importance to India, if not directly, certainly in a tangential way. The maintenance of security and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, which is what the ARF is all about, is a sine-qua-non for economic development -- something that has become a high priority concern for India. And the positions it adopts within the ARF will be geared towards furthering this objective.

But as far as the Asean is concerned, it is what India can do for ARF that is of prime significance.

With the big daddies of the ARF, especially the US, the European Union, China and Japan, being perceived partially as political antagonists, even while being economic allies, it is important for Asean to have within the forum a powerful counterweight which is seen to be a neutral force. With the US and the EU, Asean has well-defined differences, especially over the issue of human rights in Myanmar. Cambodia could be another point of divergence although pronouncements by Clinton's envoy Stephen Solarz have indicated a change of heart in Washington vis-a-vis Asean's mediation in resolving the conflict in Phnom Penh.

China, on the other hand, is a power to reckon with for Asean, its blue water navy giving it an ominous edge in disputes with smaller countries in the region situated in the South China Sea. This is a concern India can empathise with, since Beijing's missile-flexing is posing a threat to India's security. So it is probable that New Delhi will seek to discuss this issue within the framework of the larger issue of arms proliferation in the region abetted by Western powers like the US.

Japan could have performed the role of an ombudsman in the region, but its war crimes record too has not helped endear the most powerful economy in the region to the Asean countries.

India is the only big power in the Asia-Pacific with no threat perception attached to it, as far as Asean is concerned. There are no territorial disputes between the two, nor have there been major political differences in recent times. So it is quite possible that the 30-year old regional grouping will seek to make use of India's good office to neutralise the threat perception it encounters within the region. However, as officials point out, India would not like to be `used' in any manner of speaking. "We would like to maintain our distance in regional conflicts, and would like to maintain a low profile, despite our concern for preserving peace," says an official. India's agenda in the Asean is more economic than political, he points out, unlike that of, say, the US or EU or China. "We do not want to preach to anyone about what they should do. We believe in non-interference in the affairs of other countries," he said.

Of course, the consonance of views between India and Asean does not preclude any divergence of opinion. On the Cambodia conflict, India's stance is that the coalition government formed after the UN-sponsored elections in 1993 is "an unnatural marriage" , as one senior official put it, "although we are concerned about the impact of the ongoing strife on the lives of the Cambodian people". Asean, on the other hand, believes strongly that the coalition between the Norodom Ranariddh-led Funcinpec and the Hun-Sen-led Cambodian People's Party is a legitimate political formation which should be allowed to continue.

As far as the Myanmar issue is concerned, India's stance has been more or less in conformity with Asean's. It does not go along with the US and EU position protesting the conferment of Asean membership to Yangon. As one Indian diplomat points out, "certain US business houses have not been touched by the sanctions. This is a palpable case of doublespeak on the part of Washington."

With regard to nuclear non-proliferation, India's contribution at the last Jakarta ARF meeting was responsible for the re-contouring of Asean's stance of pushing for "full and effective" implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Of course, as far as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is concerned, India continues to hold on to its position that it will not sign until the nuclear weapon states give a time-bound commitment for disarmament -- something the Asean does not subscribe to. But there is empathy for India's stance among the Asean countries, and there is unlikely to be any pressure from the latter to get New Delhi to sign either this treaty or any of the other regional treaties like the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation or the South-East Asian Weapons Free Zone protocol.

As far as terrorism and illicit drugs and arms-trade are concerned, India will pitch hard for measures to enable containment of these fast-proliferating problems. A move that has enhanced India's role in the security forum is its active efforts to energise the Indian Ocean Rim grouping, which will provide it with the geographical imperative to move closer to the Asia-Pacific.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.