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PM leaves for Thailand to attend India-ASEAN, East Asia summits | |
Emphasizing that he saw India's participation in the India-ASEAN
and the East Asia Summits as a vital element of the country's vision of an Asian
economic community based on an open and inclusive regional architecture, the Prime
Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, left on a three-day visit to Thai capital Bangkok
this morning. Issuing a departure statement ahead of his visit to attend the Seventh
India-ASEAN and the Fourth East Asia Summit in Bangkok, Dr. Singh said: "India's
enhanced engagement with the ASEAN is at the heart of our 'Look East' Policy.
The conclusion of the India-ASEAN Trade-in-Goods Agreement in August 2009 is a
major first step in our objective of creating an India-ASEAN Regional Trade and
Investment Area. India-ASEAN trade has grown at a healthy rate and stood at about
US Dollars 48 billion in 2008. The India-ASEAN Summit is an occasion to review
the progress in our relations with ASEAN countries. I will inform ASEAN leaders
about the several initiatives that India has taken to qualitatively enhance our
partnership in diverse areas of our cooperation." In pursuance of the theme of
the ASEAN Summit of "Enhancing Connectivity, Empowering Peoples", I will discuss
with the ASEAN leaders new initiatives to accelerate the process of our engagement
in areas such as greater economic integration, people-to-people contacts, agriculture,
human resource development, education, science and technology and information
and communications technology. I will also attend the Fourth East Asia Summit
on October 25. The East Asia Summit will review cooperation in five key areas
- energy, education, finance, avian influenza and national disaster mitigation.
The Summit will provide an opportunity to discuss regional and international issues
of common interest, and future direction for community building and cooperation.
Asia's response to the global economic slowdown, food security, energy security
and climate change will be important issues of discussion. I am hopeful that the
ASEAN and other countries of the East Asia Summit process will endorse the proposal
for the establishment of the Nalanda University in Bihar as an international institution
of excellence in education with a continental focus," he further said. The departure
statement also said that he would have bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister
of Cambodia, the Chinese Premier, the President of Indonesia, the Prime Minister
of Japan, the Prime Minister of Singapore, the Prime Minister of Thailand and
the Prime Minister of Vietnam. |
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