PM Modi presents 12-point proposals to expand India-ASEAN cooperation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday presented a 12point proposal to expand cooperation between India and 10nation ASEAN in a range of areas such as connectivity trade and digital transformation even as he called for building a rulesbased postCOVID world orderThe establishment of a multimodal connectivity and economic corridor linking South East Asia India West Asia and Europe and offering to share New Delhis digital public infrastructure stack with ASEAN partners are among the proposals announced by Modi at the annual ASEANIndia summit in this Indonesian capitalThe 12point proposals also included the prime ministers call for a collective fight against terrorism terror financing and cyberdisinformation as well as to raise issues being faced by Global South in multilateral foraTwo joint statements one on maritime cooperation and the other on food security were also adopted at the summitIn his address at the summit Modi said that progress towards a free and open IndoPacific and elevating the voice of the Global South is in the common interest of allThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region and India and several other countries including the US China Japan and Australia are its dialogue partnersIn his opening remarks Modi described the grouping as the epicentre of growth and that New Delhi is committed to working shoulder to shoulder with itThe 21st century is Asias century It is our century For this it is necessary to build a rulebased postCOVID world order and efforts by all for human welfare the prime minister cochairing the summit saidThe progress of free and open IndoPacific and elevating the Voice of Global South is in the common interest of all he saidThe prime minister also reaffirmed that ASEAN is the central pillar of Indias Act East Policy and it fully supports ASEAN centrality and its outlook on the IndoPacificOur history and geography connect India and ASEAN Along with shared values regional unity peace prosperity and a shared belief in a multipolar world also binds us together he said adding the grouping holds a prominent place in Indias IndoPacific initiativeIt was the first summit between the two sides since the elevation of their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership last yearToday even in an environment of global uncertainties there is continuous progress in every field in our mutual cooperationThis is a testament to the strength and resilience of our relationship he saidThe prime ministers 12point roadmap included an ASEANIndia fund for the digital future focusing on cooperation in digital transformation and financial connectivity and an announcement on the renewal of support to the Economic and Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia ERIAThe proposals listed by the Ministry of External Affairs MEA included Modis call for collectively raising issues being faced by Global South in multilateral fora and an invitation to the ASEAN countries to join the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine being established by the World Health Organisation in IndiaThe prime minister also offered to share Indias experience in providing affordable and quality medicines to people through JanAushadhi Kendras and invited ASEAN countries to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient InfrastructureIn his opening remarks Modi said ASEAN matters because here everyones voice is heard and ASEAN is the epicentre of growth because the ASEAN region plays a crucial role in global developmentVasudhaiva Kutumbakam one earth one family one future this sentiment is also the theme of Indias G20 Presidency Modi notedASEANIndia dialogue relations started with the establishment of a sectoral partnership in 1992 This graduated to a full dialogue partnership in December 1995 and a summitlevel partnership in 2002The ties were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2012The 10 member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia Malaysia the Philippines Singapore Thailand Brunei Vietnam Laos Myanmar and CambodiaThe ties between India and ASEAN have been on a significant upswing in the last few years with the focus being on boosting cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defenceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever