India’s bilateral trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) saw 5.2 per cent growth to reach $73 billion during the April-October period this fiscal, the government informed on Saturday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin on the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus in Vientiane, Lao PDR, on November 21, according to a release from the Ministry of Defence.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India and the ASEAN are preparing for an era of electric mobility, green shipping and green steel, and businesses on the two sides will have to adjust accordingly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed concern over ongoing conflicts in various parts of the world at the 19th East Asia Summit at Vientiane, Lao PDR and said this is not the age of war and solutions to problems cannot be found in the battlefield.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Prime Minister of Lao PDR Sonexay Siphandone in Vientiane on Friday and congratulated him on successfully hosting the 21st ASEAN-India and 19th East Asia Summits.
Just over a year ago, ASEAN released its mid-term review of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025. The review reported that 54.1 per cent of the document’s line items had been completed, with another 34.2 per cent in progress.
With a combined population inching towards 700 million, ASEAN’s 10 member-states together form the world’s fifth-largest economy with a GDP of $3.2 trillion.
United States President Joe Biden will host a special in-person summit with ASEAN leaders on May 12-13, a White House statement said Saturday.
The meeting discussed and deliberated on various matters relevant to strengthening regional digital cooperation in the spirit of digital inclusion and integration.
As a recent Brookings Institution report noted, both the USA and China “would profit from the existence of third-party mechanisms that can provide impartial information, suggest road maps for deconfliction, and outline pathways for collaboration that neither side might trust if emanating from the other”. Asean exerts more influence on China than is commonly understood, especially given its ability to inflict “reputational cost” on Beijing.
