This paper highlights the salient features of economic relations between India and the five member countries of the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) grouping, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand since 1970. The paper is divided into four sections. Section I deals with the survey of trade relations; Section II with the survey of investment relations with special reference to the joint industrial ventures; and Section III with the survey of "other" economic relations (such as shipping, tourism and banking). Section IV speculates on some of the prospective areas of expanding economic cooperation between India and the ASEAN countries. Besides analysing the recent trends in the exports, imports and balance of trade of India with each of the member countries of the ASEAN grouping in detail, we have also computed and analysed the behaviour of three types of analytical measures to survey the trends in the trade relations of the countries concerned. These measures are: (1) Kojima indices of trade (export and import) intensities; (2) Grubel-Lloyd indices of movements in intra-industry trade; and (3) Trade Reciprocity Index developed by us. A survey of the economic relations between India and the ASEAN countries leads us to the conclusion that there is a large scope for expanding economic cooperation among these countries in the years to come especially in the area of investment cooperation involving exports of Indian technology, consultancy, management and banking services.
