Why was ASEAN established?

The Association of South East Asian Nations was established in 1967 for the primary purpose of accelerating economic growth as well as via cultural development and social progress by five nations of south-east Asian region including Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore via signature of the Bangkok Declaration. It was also established to promote peace as well as stability within the region on the basis of the principles as well as rules of law of the United Nations Charter. It provided a political forum for discussion of security and political concerns:

(i) Before and during the Second World War, the south-eastern area of Asia suffered the political consequences of repetitive colonialism, both Japanese as well as European.

(ii) At the cessation of war, it confronted issues of nation building, the progress of economic backwardness and poverty in addition to the pressure for alignment with a greater power or the other during cold war.