At the 18th ASEAN-India Joint Cooperation Committee Meeting, held in Jakarta, Indonesia on June 22(Photo: VNA)
Jakarta (VNA) – The 18th ASEAN-India Joint CooperationCommittee Meeting, held in Jakarta, Indonesia on June 22, highlightedcooperation between the two sides in the past years, and reached consensus onmeasures to elevate the ASEAN-India relations in the coming time.
The event was co-chaired by Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Hoanh Nam, Head of theVietnamese Permanent Representative delegation to ASEAN and Indian Ambassadorto ASEAN Suresh.K.Reddy.
A line-up of activities were carried out to mark the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue relations in 2017, the participantssaid, elaborating that those have helped strengthen bonds between people in theASEAN member states and India.
Notably, they spoke highly of the organisation of the ASEAN-India CommemorativeSummit to celebrate the dialogue ties in January, during which state leadersfrom both sides adopted the Delhi Declaration with various strategic orientationsfor bilateral cooperation.
Both parties expressed their delights over the fruitful collaboration in thefields of politics-security, economy and culture-economy while lauding theresults of the ASEAN-India Action Plan during 2016-2020 with 97 out of 130lines of actions implemented.
The ASEAN-India strategic partnership has been consolidated and deepened in 28cooperative mechanisms in the fields of politics-security.
Regarding the economic sector, India continued to be the 7th largesttrade partner of ASEAN with 70 billion USD in two-way trade in 2017. Indiapoured more than 1 billion USD in foreign direct investment in the ASEANcountries in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 9.4 percent.
Regarding culture and society, Indiais one of the most active supporters of ASEAN in narrowing the development gap,developing human resources, training in information-technology, health care,adapting to climate change and managing natural disasters as well as promotingmutual understanding between people through periodical exchange programmes.
ASEAN and India agreed to ensure the effective implementation of the remaininglines of action in the ASEAN-India Plan of Action in 2016-2020 and the list ofpriority fields to further enhance the bilateral cooperation.
India pledged to actively support the implementation of the ASEAN CommunityVision 2025 and the bloc’s central role as well as participate in ASEAN-ledmechanisms.
The country will enhance cooperation with ASEAN in navigation, anti-terrorismand transnational crimes in addition to increasing trade and investment ties.
India showed high determination to complete negotiations for the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), develop green marine economy,cooperate in connecting sea, land and air routes and promote digitalconnectivity.
It will provide support to narrow the development gap in ASEAN, beef up tourismand people-to-people exchanges, cultural heritage preservation, exchanges ofofficials and students, and enhance information-technology capacity, naturaldisaster management, and climate change resilience for the bloc.
Meanwhile, ASEAN welcomed and highly valued India’s contribution of more than1.5 million USD to ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund and ASEAN-India Green Fund in2018 to carry out more effectively joint projects.
The Vietnamese Ambassador spoke highly of the outcomes gained in ASEAN-Indiacooperation over the past time and welcomed India to consider ASEAN a pillar inthe its Act East policy.
He called on India to continuously work with ASEAN to make more contributionsto peace, security and development cooperation in Indian Ocean and Pacificregions, especially in the East Sea.
India is also expected to offer more assistance for ASEAN to reinforce thestrong development of the ASEAN Community.
At the meeting, ASEAN countries and India highly valued the coordinating roleof Vietnam in promoting ASEAN-India relations in 2015-2018.
The Southeast Asian country has also put forth a number of initiatives toenhance the bilateral cooperation through numerous activities in celebration ofthe 25th founding anniversary of ASEAN-India dialogue partnership in 2017,helping elevate their ties to a new height.
Thailand will be the next country to play the coordinating role in ASEAN-Indiarelations in 2018-2021.
The 19th ASEAN-India Joint Cooperation Committee Meeting is scheduled to takeplace in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2019. -VNA
VNA
