Speeches / Statements
Opening remarks by EAM at India ASEAN Ministerial meeting
22/07/2009
Your Excellency Dr Hassan Wirajuda, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. I thank you for your warm words of welcome. I am indeed very happy to join all of you for this important ASEAN – India Ministerial Meeting in this beautiful city of Phuket.
2. I extend my profound gratitude to the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand for hosting us in this enchanting city. I also thank him for the warm hospitality extended to my delegation and to me and for the excellent arrangements that have been made for the meeting. I am particularly pleased at the warmth and friendship at this first meeting with my ASEAN colleagues.
3. I would, at the outset, like to place on record our deep appreciations to Indonesia for the focus and dedication with which they are discharging their role as Country Coordinator for ASEAN – India dialogue. We have been able to take forward our interaction with ASEAN to a much higher level during the period of their coordinator-ship.
4. Our engagement with ASEAN is the central element of our “Look East” policy which we initiated in the early 1990s. This relationship has been growing steadily and has acquired qualitatively new dimensions, particularly since 2002, when we began our annual Summit level dialogue with ASEAN.
5. History of India's civilizational linkages and deep bonds of trust and friendship with member countries of ASEAN span millennia. These linkages can be seen today in the many historical monuments, the rich cultural heritage, the religious affiliations and in many other areas.
6. Over the past few decades, India and nations in Southeast Asia recognised the strategic importance of developing ties with one another. The steady diversification of our relationship with ASEAN countries is, therefore, a natural process and for us, a matter of deep satisfaction. We are committed to bringing India and ASEAN even closer to each other through exploring our synergies to realize full potential of our relationship.
7. Enhanced cooperation between India and ASEAN enables and simultaneously empowers our region to play an important role in today's interconnected globalized world. Our participation in the East Asia Summit is a natural corollary of our growing multi-faceted engagement and deepening economic integration with ASEAN as a whole, and with its individual member countries, in particular. Regional cooperation and integration can not only help tap the vast potential of our region and the skills of our peoples but also, particularly in the wake of the ongoing global economic and financial crisis, help our region to craft a coordinated and concerted response to the current crisis. Finalization of the text of ASEAN-India Agreement on Trade-in-Goods is a major step forward in this direction. There is much that Governments can do to accelerate the process and to ensure that all economies irrespective of their size also enjoy the benefits that integration would bring. I look forward to constructive engagement and fruitful exchanges with all of you in the task of fashioning a relationship that would benefit all the peoples of our region.
Phuket
July 22, 2009