India and ASEAN Deepen AI and Digital‑Infrastructure Cooperation, Opening Doors for Gulf Partners

India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are upgrading their digital and AI relationship in 2026 through a new ASEAN–India Digital Work Plan, signaling that New Delhi intends to be more deeply involved in the region’s tech and connectivity agenda at a time of intensifying US–China competition. The plan, endorsed by telecom and digital ministers, includes ICT training programmes, regulatory conferences, joint projects and the deployment of digital‑public‑infrastructure solutions, backed by a new “ASEAN–India Fund for Digital Future.”

Officials say the initiative will focus on AI development, 5G and beyond, submarine cables, cybersecurity and digital‑skills training, complementing national strategies in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. It also sits alongside ASEAN’s AI Safety Network, to be based in Malaysia, and the forthcoming Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which together are intended to create a more coherent regional digital market.

For India, deeper digital ties with ASEAN serve both economic and geopolitical aims. Indian IT and business‑services firms already have significant footprints in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines; expanding into AI, data‑infrastructure and digital‑public‑goods (such as identity, payments and health stacks) offers new revenue streams and strategic leverage. New Delhi has touted its domestic experience with the Aadhaar ID system, UPI instant payments and CoWIN vaccination platform as proof it can deliver scalable digital rails for populous, diverse societies.

ASEAN governments, in turn, see value in diversifying technology partnerships beyond the US and China. Working with India on standards, training and affordable infrastructure could help them avoid over‑dependence on any single vendor bloc while still accessing advanced tools. Countries like Vietnam and Indonesia are keen to build local AI talent and data‑centre capacity, and Indian firms are already competing with Chinese, Japanese and US players for those contracts.

For Gulf states, the emerging India–ASEAN digital axis presents both a challenge and an opportunity. On one hand, it underscores that the GCC is not the only actor vying for a role in ASEAN’s digital transformation. On the other, it creates openings for triangular cooperation, where Emirati or Saudi funds back Indian and ASEAN tech joint ventures, or where Gulf cloud and data‑centre players plug into a wider Indo‑Pacific network.

Officials in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have privately floated ideas for joint standards and pilots that connect Gulf digital‑ID and payments infrastructure with Indian and ASEAN systems, leveraging existing remittance and trade flows. In theory, such linkages could one day allow a Filipino worker in Dubai, an Indian exporter in Chennai and a Vietnamese factory supplier to transact over partially interoperable rails, with AI‑enhanced risk and compliance tools running in the background.

The success of the ASEAN–India plan will depend on execution: aligning regulatory approaches, securing financing for under‑served markets like Laos and Cambodia, and ensuring that local startups and SMEs—not just large incumbents—benefit from new platforms. But the direction of travel is clear: AI, digital infrastructure and data governance are moving to the centre of India–ASEAN ties, and Gulf economies aiming to be digital bridges between Asia, Europe and Africa will increasingly need to factor this triangle into their strategies.