Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attended the 18th ASEAN-India Summit via video conferencing and touched upon several challenging issues, including Covid-19, vaccine strategy and China.
“In 2022, our partnership would complete 30 years. India will also complete 75 years of its Independence. I am delighted that we will celebrate this important milestone as ASEAN-India Friendship Year,” PM Modi said at the India-ASEAN Summit.
Commenting on the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, “Due to COVID19, all of us had to face a lot of challenges. This challenging time was also a test of the India-ASEAN friendship. Our mutual cooperation in COVID era will keep strengthening our relations in future and form base for goodwill between our people.”
PM Modi stressed that the unity and centrality of ASEAN has always been a priority for India.
“History is a witness that India and ASEAN have had lively relations for thousands of years. It is reflected in our shared values, traditions, languages, scriptures, architecture, culture, food. That is why the unity and centrality of ASEAN has always been a priority for India,” he said.
Ever since its inception in 2005, ASEAN has played a key role in the strategic and geopolitical evolution of East Asia.
“PM Modi underlined the centrality of ASEAN in India’s vision for the Indo-Pacific. He noted that partnership with ASEAN is a key pillar of India’s Act East Policy,” Riva Ganguly Das, Secretary-East at MEA, said.
Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russia.
India is a founding member of the East Asia Summit and is committed to strengthening the forum and making it even more effective for dealing with contemporary challenges.
Held annually, ASEAN-India summits provide opportunity for both India and ASEAN members to engage at the highest level.
PM Modi had virually attended the 17th ASEAN-India Summit in November last year also due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year’s edition is the ninth Summit attended by him.
