ASEAN and India on Saturday established the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the occasion of the 19th ASEAN-India Summit to commemorate three decades of dialogue relationship and to uphold the importance of ASEAN’s centrality in the evolving regional architecture in the Indo-Pacific . The joint statement on ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership affirmed the importance of maintaining ASEAN’s centrality in the evolving regional architecture in the Indo-Pacific and deepening dialogue and coordination through existing ASEAN-led mechanisms.
These mechanisms include the ASEAN – India Summit, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Post Ministerial Conference with India (PMC+1), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF), and cooperate in initiatives to promote and support the ASEAN integration and community building process; Noting that both the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) share relevant fundamental principles to promote peace and cooperation, the joint statement affirmed the importance of peace, stability, To maintain and promote maritime security. and safety, freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, and other lawful use of the seas.
They also committed to promoting maritime cooperation, including in maritime security, against piracy and armed robbery against ships, maritime security, and search and rescue (SAR) operations, humanitarian assistance, disaster management, and emergency response and relief. The summit also agreed to improve cooperation against terrorism and transnational crimes, including international economic crimes and money laundering, cybercrime, drug and human trafficking, and arms smuggling.
The summit also agreed to strengthen cooperation on cybersecurity, such as through the creation of new dialogue platforms between ASEAN and India, in close cooperation with the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, and the ADMM Cybersecurity and Information Center of Excellence. On trade, ASEAN and India agreed to speed up the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make it more user-friendly, simple and trade-facilitative, and work together to create resilient supply chains, cooperation on a single window platform to enhance trade facilitation and integration and promote the development of MSMEs and start-ups, including through business-friendly events facilitated by the ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC).
The summit also highlighted cooperation on the digital economy through a series of regional capacity building activities in digital transformation, digital trade, digital skills and innovation, as well as hackathons. For e-commerce, the summit decided to explore fintech cooperation, including unified and interoperable digital financial systems between ASEAN and India, which will expand opportunities for business and e-commerce.
On the issue of connectivity, India and ASEAN enhanced cooperation in transport and connectivity in land, air and maritime areas, including through the early completion and operationalization of the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway, while on its looking forward to the eastern extension. in Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam, and to explore the synergies between the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, and India’s connectivity initiatives under its Act East Policy in line with the “Connecting the Connectivities” approach, to strengthen regional connectivity; For climate change, the group decided to enhance cooperation in the field of the environment, including biodiversity and climate change, as well as explore cooperation in the field of energy security, including cooperation on clean, renewable and low-carbon energy in line with the ASEAN Plan of Action for energy cooperation 2021-2025 in India renewable energy priorities, as well as other national models and priorities such as bio-circular-green development.
The summit also discussed Smart Cities and the joint declaration decided to explore cooperation such as city-to-city partnerships between the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) and India’s Smart City Mission by promoting exchange of best practices and capacity building for to help build cities that are resilient, innovative, well-connected and technologically advanced. It further improved ASEAN-India cooperation in the space sector, including through the establishment of tracking, data reception and processing stations in Vietnam and Indonesia, and encouraged cooperation between ASEAN and Indian space industry players, including in new areas of cooperation.
For tourism, the joint statement added, “Promote the recovery of tourism and related industries, which have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, through effective implementation of the ASEAN-India tourism work plans.” (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
