New Delhi, Oct 9 :
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attendance of the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR, tomorrow holds especial significance as India marks the 10th anniversary of the government’s Act East Policy this year.
PM Modi along with other Asean heads of state and government will review the progress of Asean-India ties over this time and chart out the future directions of the relationship, a top official said.
Secretary East Jaideep Mazumder, briefing the media ahead of PM Modi’s Oct 10-11 visit to attend the 21st ASEAN-India Summit and the 19th East Asia Summit, said that India will express its support for the Chair’s theme at the Asean-India summit, which is Connectivity and Resilience.
He said that 20 percent of the Indian diaspora lives in Asean countries. Asean is a top top trade and investment partner of India.
The Secretary East said that “review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods agreement is ongoing and will feed into the supply chain resilience aspect”.
PM Modi will have a bilateral with Lao PDR PM Sonexay Siphandone, on the sidelines of the Asean-India summit. Lao People’s Democratic Republic is the current Chair of ASEAN.
“On the margins the PM will have bilaterals with a number of leaders. These are in the works, and we will keep you updated,” he added.
The Secretary East said that in the past 10 years the Act East Policy has seen “so much of bilateral cooperation across so many facets that it has grown unrecognisably since the past 10 years.”
The growth has been “qualitative and quantitative”, including high level visits, “and there has been real content in a future, forward looking way”. There is “ongoing and intensive engagement with the entire region,” he added.
During the past decade India’s engagements with the 10-member Asean have grown from stronger people to people connect to the robust cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security, connectivity including fin-tech, heritage conservation and capacity building. 2024 also marks important anniversaries of establishment of India’s diplomatic relations with several countries in the region – 75th with Indonesia, 75th with the Philippines, 60th with Singapore and 40th with Brunei.
Direct flights between Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and New Delhi (India) have commenced from June 2024. Direct flights between India and Brunei (Chennai-Bandar Seri Begawan) are also likely to commence soon.
India’s civilizational links with the Southeast Asian countries have been nourished by the sacred threads of Buddhism and Ramayana. These links are re-invigorated through initiatives such as revival of the Nalanda University, the new campus of which was inaugurated earlier this year. Restoration and conservation of World Heritage sites such as Vat Phou in Lao PDR, Angkor Vat, Preah Vihear Temple and Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia and My Son in Vietnam by the Archaeological Survey of India is helping preserve our shared heritage. India is also co-chair of the International Coordination Committee (ICC) of UNESCO for Preah Vihear Temple in Cambodia.
In the wake of Typhoon Yagi, India extended emergency humanitarian assistance to Laos and Vietnam under Operation Sadbhav. A consignment of 35 tons of humanitarian assistance for Vietnam and 10 tons for Laos was provided. India has been among the first responders in providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) to the region. Operation Sadbhav was part of India’s broader effort to contribute to HADR within the ASEAN region, in line with its long standing ‘Act East’ Policy.
Prime Minister and Prime Minister of Vietnam have jointly inaugurated on 01 Aug 2024, the Army Software Park at Telecommunications University, Nha Trang established with a grant of US$ 5 million by the Government of India. During Prime Minister’s visit to Brunei Darussalam, India and Brunei signed an MoU on Cooperation in the operation of Telemetry, Tracking and Telecommand Station for Satellite and Launch Vehicles (04 Sept 2024).
During the recent visit of Vietnam Prime Minister to India, Vietnam conveyed its decision to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) on 01 Aug 2024.
ASEAN is an intergovernmental organization of ten Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
