SOUTH SOUTH COOPERATION: FEW OBSERVATIONS.

 Uniy of developing countries has been very difficult to achieve and  sustain. As they are doing better compared to colonial period in different walks of life currently the prospects for their solidarity and cooperation is gradually increasing. South South cooperation (S S C) has been defined as a manifestation of solidarity among both countries and peoples of the South that contribute to their national well-being their national and collective self reliance and the attainment of internationally agreed development goals including the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. United Nations office of South South Cooperation is a common endeavor of  peoples and countries of South, born out of shared experiences and sympathies based on their common objectives  and solidarity, and guided interaliia the principles of respect for national sovereignty and  ownership free from conditionalities. Operationally or in practice South South cooperation for development is a process whereby two or more developing countries pursue their individual/ or shared national capacity development objectives through exchanges of their experience, expertise, skills, resources and technical knowledge, know  how and through regional and interregional collective actions including partnerships involving Governments,regional organizations,civil society, academia and privater sector for their individual and/ or mutual benefits within and across regions. 

The origin of SSC can be traced to the Asian African Conference held in 1955 at Bandung Indonesia  where 29 countries including India, China, Saudi Arabia! Egypt, Pakistan Ceylon, Afghanistan etc. participated. The term South was referred to regions that have similar political social and economic histories rooted in disparities that occurred basically during the colonial or  imperialistic period .Gradually this cooperation led to achieve changes through a vision of mutual benefit and solidarity among countries particularly belonging to the disadvantaged groups in the global system.Each country vehemently supported the continuation of decolonisation efforts happening in both Africa and Asia.Bandung conference also provided an opportunity to  the participating countries to  exert collective resistance to Western dominance in international relations. In 1978 ,the United Nations came forward to establish the Unit for South South cooperation in order to promote South South trade and collaboration with UN agencies. However the idea of SSC gathered momentum only in the late 1990s mainly due to Africa South America (ASA) cooperation and Asia Pacific region South South cooperation SSC that has been successful in decreasing dependence on the aid programs of  developed countries and impacting a shift in the international balance of power. The establishment of new Development Bank in July 2014 by BRICS with  a primary focus on infrastructure development of member countries is a major breakthrough in SSC. Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)is a political and economic union originally established after  signing the Bangkok Declaration of 8th August by six countries-Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.After including Combodia Lao PD Republic,Myanmar and Vietnam in subsequent years its strength has increased to 10 countries located in South East Asia. Six countries namely China Japan, India,South Korea New Zealand and Australia were treated as dialogue partners  and India became a  "sectoral dialogue partner " of ASEAN in 1992.Free Trade Agreement facilitate free movement of goods  services investment within ASEAN by creating single regional  market,it provides free market access from one member country to all other markets in the region. FTA will  improve  competitiveness between businesses from different countries and  also narrow devlopment gaps. As per 2022 data in ppp terms the ASEAN region accounted for 6.5% of global GDP.

India's relationship with ASEAN has been  comparatively good in almost on all fronts  including  strategic, environmental, economic and cultural ties .India's decision to withdraw from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)were against the spirit of ASEAN interest in  India .However it has been observed that the "Act East Policy " followed by India has made significant progress for a better relations with ASEAN.For better SSC another challenge faced were   from South China sea with the perceptions  that there have been multiple incrusions into the South China sea by PRC China and ROC Taiwan with lad islands,and previous overlapping claims between Vietnam  Phillipines, Malaysia  Brunei, Indonesia and various other  countries .Aspirations of India and QUAD to achieve a rule based  free inclusive   Indo Pacific is  yet to materialise.. India has consistently supported the unity and centrality of ASEAN which is pivotal to coperation of both for India's Vision of  Indo-Pacific and QUAD .It has been observed that there are important similarities  between  ASEAN'S Outlook on Indo-Pacific and India's Indo Pacific Occean Initiative. More gratifying and signifying activities in fact is that South East Asian countries are generally against taking sides  in the US- China rivalry or aligning with any plurilaterals in the Indo Pacific..Hence the generally acccomodative nature of  ASEAN  region is a major building block towards South South cooperation. But the existing geo political situation regional conflicts,tensions and the nature of evolving demand for new experiments in the global financial,and  monetary architecture  development,energy security and climate finance etc may likely  to drag against just and amicable solutions.