India has emerged as a valued and trusted capacity-building partner for ASEAN, carving a distinct role in Southeast Asia by aligning its cooperation with what the regional bloc actually needs — and without the strategic strings that larger powers attach to their assistance, according to a report published in the Australia-based policy journal The Interpreter.

Responding When It Matters Most

The report highlights that the true measure of a partner in maritime Southeast Asia is not raw power, but speed and reliability when disaster strikes. When Typhoon Yagi tore through mainland Southeast Asia in September 2024, India launched 'Operation Sadbhav', dispatching relief to Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar within days. Six months later, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, and India was again among the first responders — this time through 'Operation Brahma', which deployed naval ships, air force transport, a search-and-rescue team, and a field hospital that treated more than 2,500 patients.

These rapid, on-the-ground responses have fundamentally shifted how the region perceives India's role, the report noted.

What the Surveys Show

The ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute's 2025 State of Southeast Asia survey cited in the report found that India's strategic relevance to ASEAN climbed from ninth to sixth place within a single year. The survey also identified India as one of the region's preferred partners for hedging against US–China rivalry — a significant indicator of growing regional trust.

Separately, the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute survey ranked India as a rising partner, with the country increasingly seen as a provider of practical security rather than a claimant of regional leadership.

India's Strategic Advantage: No Baggage

The report draws a pointed contrast between India and the other major external players competing for influence in Southeast Asia. According to the report, 'The United States brings unmatched capability, and with it the entanglements of alliance politics. China brings proximity and resources, alongside the very coercion in the South China Sea the region needs protecting from. Both, in different ways, ask Southeast Asian states to edge towards one pole of a contest they would rather avoid.'

India, the report argues, occupies a different lane entirely. It maintains one of the region's larger navies and has demonstrated the reach to patrol, exercise, and respond across Southeast Asian waters — yet it carries none of the strategic baggage that would force ASEAN states to take sides. Crucially, India has no territorial or maritime dispute with any Southeast Asian country — a quiet but consequential distinction from China that the region has noticed.

Why ASEAN Is Looking to Diversify

As Southeast Asian nations seek to reduce dependence on either Washington or Beijing, India is increasingly falling within the bracket of preferred alternatives. The report notes that India's value 'is easy to overlook, precisely because it is so understated' — capable enough to matter at sea, but without the geopolitical demands that come with US or Chinese engagement.

This combination of operational credibility, diplomatic neutrality, and no history of coercion in the region positions India as a natural partner for ASEAN states navigating an era of intensifying great-power competition. How India sustains and scales this presence in the years ahead will determine whether this momentum translates into lasting strategic influence.