Abstract: The Republic of India has close historical ties with Southeast Asia. Back in 1960’s, some of the member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) considered India a strategic partner and potential guarantor of security. The subject of this research is the cooperation between India and ASEAN countries in the area of defense. Research on the development of cooperation between the Republic and the Association appears to be extremely relevant, since the relations between the countries are the key element of foreign policy and the main vector of New Delhi policy (“Look East” and later “Act East”). The topic is appealing to scientists as it allows analyzing the factors that influenced the bilateral relations, as well as determining the possible obstacles in their development. India’s approach to ASEAN is motivate not only by purely economic interests, but also foreign policy. First and foremost, with regards to ASEAN countries, the Republic intends to become dominant power in northeastern part of Indian Ocean (particularly in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea), as well as play an important strategic role in Southeast Asia and Pacific Rim. The Republic of India has good relations in the area of defense only with Singapore and Vietnam, while its cooperation with other state, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand remain on a relatively basic level.