Ambassador of Vietnam to India Ton Sinh Thanh (middle) (Source: VNA) Inher speech, Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said 2017 marks aturning point when ASEAN celebrates the 50th founding anniversarywhile India and ASEAN observe the 25th anniversary of DialogueRelations, the 15th anniversary of Summit-level interaction, and thefifth anniversary of strategic partnership.
Shesaid ASEAN and India are home to a combined 1.85 billion people, accounting forone fourth of the global population, and record a total gross domestic productof more than 3.8 trillion USD.
She added that India’s Act East policy announced by Prime Minister NarendraModi places Southeast Asia in a core position.
Indiais partnering with ASEAN to develop security architecture in Asia-Pacific andsupports the bloc’s centrality, she said, underscoring the peaceful settlementof disputes and cooperative solutions to tackle emerging non-traditionalchallenges.
Increasingsecurity at sea is also one of the key cooperative areas for both sides, shesaid.
Overthe past 25 years, ASEAN has become the fourth largest trade partner of Indiawith 10 percent of the country’s total trade while India has grown into theseventh largest trade partner of the bloc. In 2016-2017, bilateral trade grew 8percent.
Ata round-table seminar on the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-IndiaPartnership earlier the same day, Ambassador of Vietnam to India Ton Sinh Thanhsaid ASEAN considers India a trustworthy partner in the region while Indiaregards the bloc a main pillar in its Act East policy.
With30 cooperation mechanisms and 21 out of 26 projects in the ASEAN-India ActionPlan for 2016-2018 underway, both sides need to seek effective ways to lifttwo-way trade to 200 billion USD, he stated.
Highlightingthat ASEAN wants to witness India’s more active involvement in Southeast Asia,including the East Sea issue, Thanh said India could play a constructive rolein maintaining peace and security in the region by working together with ASEANin maintaining compliance with international law, including the 1982 UnitedNations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea, diplomatic and legal processes in the region.
Hestated that as a coordinating country of ASEAN-India relations for 2015-2018,Vietnam will do its best to develop their close ties. -VNA
VNA
