ASEAN important to India’s Act East policy and wider Indo-Pacific

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Jakarta

ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) is an important pillar of India’s Act East policy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that it plays an important role in the emerging dynamism. Indo-Pacific. Delivering his remarks at the inaugural session of the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference in Jakarta on Thursday, the External Affairs Minister said, “ASEAN is an important pillar of India’s Act East policy and its approach to the wider Indo-Pacific. A strong and integrated ASEAN plays an important role.” A key role in the emerging dynamics of the Indo-Pacific. India strongly supports ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN vision on the Indo-Pacific.”

The External Affairs Minister is on a six-day visit to Indonesia and Thailand from July 12 and his foreign engagements in these two countries will end on July 18. Jaishankar said, “As Comprehensive Strategic Partners, we look forward to working with ASEAN to further expand our partnership to include new areas while strengthening existing cooperation. , referring to the financial and maritime security domains.”

They also recalled how last year the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations were celebrated and elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. “And this was done with several activities that focused on all dimensions of our partnership, including the first Foreign Minister’s meeting in Delhi, an exchange of parliamentary delegations, an artist camp, a music festival, the first Defense The ministerial meeting was included. “It will kick off with the first ASEAN, India Maritime Exercise in May 2023,” Jaishankar said.

Earlier, on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Jakarta and discussed the Ukraine conflict, among other issues. The two ministers, who met on the sidelines of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) events in Jakarta on Thursday, also discussed bilateral economic issues. Jaishankar is in Jakarta for the ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit and Foreign Ministers’ meeting under the ASEAN framework in the ASEAN Regional Forum format on July 13-14.