Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON DC, 4th May. Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Friday strongly called for an early completion of review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement, according to a statement issued by MEA.
He said ASEAN is a crucial pillar of India ”Act East Policy” and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific.
Jaishankar was speaking with an ASEAN delegation at the 26th ASEAN-India Senior Official meeting.
The delegation was led by Albert Chua, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore.
Jaishankar encouraged the delegation to focus on subjects of critical importance and specific outcomes.
Mr Sandeep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, co-chaired the ASEAN-India meeting with the Singapore official.
The ASEAN-India relations across the three pillars of engagement, namely, political-security, economic and socio-cultural, as reflected in the ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2021-2025), was reviewed, MEA stated.
They discussed implementation of the Prime Ministers’ 12 -Point Proposal announced at the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta in 2023 to strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
They proposed joint activities to mark the decade of India’s Act East Policy were highlighted. Views on regional and global issues of mutual interest were also exchanged.
The preparations for the ASEAN-India Summit to be held this year in Vientiane were discussed.
ASEAN side appreciated India’s continued support to ASEAN and to the ASEAN-led architecture in the region.
Comments are closed.