India is a member of which of the following? 1) Asia-Pacific economic corporation. 2) Association of South-East Asian Nations. 3) East Asia Summit Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

The correct answer is B (3 only). India is a member only of the East Asia Summit. India attended the inaugural EAS in Kuala Lumpur in 2005 as one of the founding members, so statement 3 is correct.

• Statement 1 (APEC) is wrong. APEC membership is limited to 21 economies, and India is not one of them. India has sought entry for years, but it has not been admitted.
• Statement 2 (ASEAN) is wrong. ASEAN has ten members, and India is not among them. India is a Dialogue Partner since 1992 and has a summit-level partnership since 2002, which is why aspirants confuse the two.

The core concept is the difference between membership, dialogue partnership and observer status in regional forums. This matters for Mains GS-2 on India's 'Act East' policy and its engagement with the Indo-Pacific. Note that the EAS has since expanded to 18 members after the US and Russia joined in 2011, and India remains a member.

Trap: Treating ASEAN partnership as membership, which leads aspirants to pick option A or C.