External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that for India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the cornerstone of its Act East policy and its Indo-Pacific vision. Addressing the inaugural session of the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Jaishankar said that for India, ASEAN is the cornerstone of its Act East policy and its Indo-Pacific vision. For us, political, economic and security cooperation with ASEAN is a top priority. People-to-people ties are also something that we are constantly looking to expand.
He said the priority India gives to ASEAN was evident from Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Jakarta last year on the eve of our own G20 Summit. The External Affairs Minister said he had announced a 12-point plan which has been largely worked upon. He said it is encouraging to know that the India-ASEAN partnership is gaining more dimensions with each passing day. Jaishankar said in a statement that the Laos visit holds special significance as this year marks a decade of India’s Act East Policy, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 9th East Asia Summit in 2014.
The ‘Act East Policy’ is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic and cultural ties with the vast Asia-Pacific region at various levels. India envisions a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, built on a rules-based international order. The 10 member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Earlier on Friday, Jaishankar met his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters and discussed education, agriculture technology, Pacific Islands and cricket.
#WATCH | At the opening session of the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers Meeting in Vientiane, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, “…The priority that India attaches to ASEAN is evident from Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Jakarta last year on the very eve of our own G-20 summit. He had… pic.twitter.com/s2GVKZIDxG
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2024
