We can see from the thumbnail, that Kamala Harris was there too. So this India-ASEAN SCS thing is definitely coordinated and brokered by the US. While India is nothing like the US when it comes to lending defense assistance to SEA nations, it is becoming a contributor to the US's own SCS grand strategy against China. India had recently sold Brahmos missiles to the PH and given a warship to Vietnam. Again, nothing like the US and South Korea, but its a start. Now, I know that Indian weapons are vastly overhyped junk, but its their hype that can breed overconfidence, like in the PH. The PH had most recently made joint statements with India about their anti-China SCS stance. India ultimately wants to join the US to meddle in the SCS disputes. And this is somehow gaining momentum, because some SEA leaders wanna act tough on China.
Would this India-ASEAN thing go anywhere? I don't think so. But some leader in SEA may get stupid enough to think he can take on China, just because he has the backing of US, Japan, SK, and India. Malaysia is currently led by Anwar Ibrahim. He is making a stupid move, but I don't think he will go too far to antagonize China. But the opposition in Malaysia are Sinophobic Islamic fanatic idiots. If they get into power, by coup or by elections 4 years later, they could inherit this QUAD-ASEAN thing and be emboldened to provoke China.
Yes, this is unfortunately true. I only hope that this doesn't lead to any war. But the PH situation is getting more concerning as time goes by.