The heads of nine of the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations traveled to New Delhi two weeks ago to celebrate 20 years of ties between their organization and India. At the two-day “Commemorative Summit,” ASEAN leaders toasted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and signed a free-trade pact covering services and investment with his country.
The events in New Delhi, ostensibly about friendly relations among the participants, were also about one country not a part of the festivities. China, not a member of ASEAN, haunts its members these days with aggressive actions in the region, especially in the South China Sea, which Beijing believes is an internal Chinese lake. Moreover, China claims large portions of territory under Indian control and continually probes the areas with its troops and sometimes aircraft.
looking beyond borders 