External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Friday strongly pitched for an early completion of review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (File Photo)
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Friday strongly pitched for an early completion of review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).
ASEAN, he said, is a crucial pillar of India’s ”Act East Policy” and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific.
Dr Jaishankar was interacting with an ASEAN delegation which is here for the 26th ASEAN-India Senior OffIcials’ meeting. The delegation was led by Albert Chua, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore.
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The Indian minister encouraged the delegation to focus on subjects of critical importance and specific outcomes.
Earlier today, Mr Sandeep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, co-chaired the ASEAN-India meeting with the Singapore official.
The gamut of 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.
The senior officials also discussed implementation of the Prime Ministers’ twelve-Point Proposal announced at the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta in 2023 to further strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
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.
Preparations for the ASEAN-India Summit to be held later this year in Vientiane were also discussed. The ASEAN side appreciated India’s continued support to ASEAN and to the ASEAN-led architecture in the region.
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