India, July 11 -- In an era in which it is fashionable to publish tomes on geopolitics, veteran diplomat Gurjit Singh's latest book, The Durian Flavour, is a deeply insightful review of India-ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) relations. Singh is a rare member of his tribe to have specialised in both ASEAN and the African Union, two key geographies for India. His professional experience, including in Japan and Germany, imbues his work with a unique perspective on ASEAN, a complex region at the heart of the unfolding dynamics in the Indo-Pacific. That his book has been endorsed by eminent leaders of South-East Asia is testimony to the character of its contents. The Durian Flavour juxtaposes the sweet aroma of untapped potential with the malodorous whiff of underperformance in the India-ASEAN relationship in the past, something that is now being actively addressed by the government. The book sets out with a sweeping overview of India's civilisational ties with South-East Asia and the active transformation of the Look East Policy (LEP) into the Act East Policy (AEP) after 2014. Interestingly, while neither LEP nor AEP explicitly excluded China, the nature of China's rise in the region has framed India-ASEAN relations as balancing acts. The author meticulously outlines the changing character of ASEAN with the admission of Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia (the CLMV countries), which, despite their greater economic and ideological connect to China, enjoy deep-rooted ties with India. He rightly avers that one of his key challenges as a diplomat was to get ASEAN countries to view India beyond the sociocultural framework of the shared legacy of The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. As this writer has experienced, of the two external influences that permeate ASEAN, the Indic clearly prevails over the Sinic in civilisational terms. A visit to the National Museum in Jakarta reveals how much more space is devoted to the Indian connect. However, as soon as one steps out onto the streets, it is China's contemporary engagement in trade and infrastructure that is more evident. This pragmatism in ASEAN member states towards engagement with China influences their position on issues such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the still-pending Draft Code of Conduct, Indo-Pacific and Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Some of the impediments to deeper India-ASEAN cooperation under the "Development Partner" framework are attributable to the frailties of intra-ASEAN decision-making and the frequently oft elusive consensus. Singapore and Indonesia have been consistently supportive. The book corelates the interlinkages between India's evolving AEP, the dawn of a new era in India-Japan relations (which I had the privilege of steering as ambassador to Japan from 2015 to 2018), and the expansion of India-Africa engagement. The broad proposition here is that India-ASEAN relations stand to benefit from trilateral cooperation with Japan or European partners such as Germany, which are stakeholders in peace, prosperity and development in the Indo-Pacific. Singh explores the ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum), EAS (East Asia Summit), BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), MGC (Mekong-Ganga Cooperation) and the IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association) and FIPIC (Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation) to assess the potential for leveraging India's participation in regional fora to deepen India-ASEAN ties. The author also avers that India's connect to ASEAN through the AEP has compensated for its exclusion from APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). Considerable space is devoted to the defence and security dynamics of a region reeling under China's economic rise, expansion of military power and coercive actions that propagate irredentist claims in the South China Sea. The author explores the potential for closer partnerships beyond humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and routine naval exercises to the sale (by India) of defence platforms - such as the BrahMos deal with the Philippines; and now with Vietnam and Indonesia. The constraining factor limiting ASEAN's options is that the ARF and ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus) are ministerial-level constructs. Another limiting factor is that US policies and levels of participation in apex structures like the East Asia Summit have not been consistent. Gurjit Singh's book offers perceptive assessments of the complex and granular details of India's negotiations with ASEAN for agreements in goods and services and offers useful suggestions for further improvement. The author suggests that India can ill afford to contest China's hugely competitive presence in ASEAN, and must therefore devise novel pathways for achieving success. Singh laments the gaps in engagement in science and technology, joint research, and educational opportunities, even as tourism has flourished both ways and India has done much to assist in the restoration of cultural monuments across the region, including Ankor Wat in Cambodia. Similarly, there is untapped potential in film, sport, gaming, renewable energy, health care and physical connectivity. Overall, the author remains very optimistic about India-ASEAN relations, and avers that a greater partnership between Quad (the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a diplomatic and security partnership comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia) and ASEAN could help reshape regional security perceptions. Ultimately, to engage the ASEAN and savour the fabled durian, what India needs to do is to bring the relationship out of the museums and onto the streets. The substantive outcomes of PM Narendra Modi's recent visit to Indonesia augur well for India's deepening connect with an important flank in the evolving architecture of the Indo-Pacific....