It was as early as 24-25 April,1996 that Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies of the University of Calcutta organised a National Colloquium of Thai Studies in India. It was at the valedictory session of the Colloquium that a proposal was mooted before the participants of the Seminar that concrete steps should be taken to constitute an Association working at the all India level to promote and develop Asian studies by Indians, in collaboration with scholars from different parts of Asia. It was on the line of this recommendation that a group of academicians from Calcutta took initiative to establish a platform which will work as a meeting place for academicians and journalists and social scientists both in India and other Asian countries. Later on, however, because of academic thirst Pacific region has also been included within its purview and finally the Indian Association for Asian and Pacific Studies came into existence with a group of Indian social scientists bearing the similar aptitude to develop Asian studies by Asians in Asia.
