The Durian Flavour Hb

From ancient trade winds to modern geopolitics, a relationship that shapes Asia’s future

For centuries, India and Southeast Asia have been bound by trade, culture and ideas that travelled freely across oceans. In the post-colonial era, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reimagined their relationship within a rapidly evolving global order.
A Partnership at a Crossroads
Today, as the world grapples with unprecedented geopolitical, economic and environmental challenges, this age-old partnership has gained new urgency. How can India and ASEAN collaborate strategically in the Indo-Pacific? How can they deepen cooperation, foster prosperity and strengthen people-topeople links in the twenty-first century?

From Shared Past to Shared Future,
With the insight of a seasoned diplomat, Ambassador Gurjit Singh traces this remarkable journey— from history to policy to a shared future. Engaging, accessible and timely, The Durian Flavour reveals why India and ASEAN matter to each other, and why their partnership matters to the world.

Inside this book, you’ll find
• Ancient connections: How trade, culture and ideas linked India and Southeast Asia for centuries
• Post-colonial realignments: The evolution of India–ASEAN relations in a changing global Landscape
• The Indo-Pacific moment: Strategic cooperation in an era of geopolitical flux
• Economics and prosperity: Trade, supply chains and growth opportunities
• People-to-people ties: Culture, mobility and shared regional identity
• A shared future: What meaningful partnership can look like in the decades ahead
A partnership worth understanding
Thoughtful and authoritative, The Durian Flavour is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Asia’s present—and the collaborative choices that will shape its future.

Gurjit Singh served as an Indian diplomat for 37 years, holding ambassadorial roles in Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia and elsewhere. He is unique in having represented India at both ASEAN andthe African Union. A strong advocate of India's Indo-Pacific engagement, he is the author of Masala Bumbu and the comic Travels Through Time. Singh is an Honorary Professor at IIT Indore, has chaired the CII Africa Task Force on Trilateral Cooperation and actively supports ASEAN social impact investments and trilateral cooperation.