India to host 10 Asean foreign ministers mid-June

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India will host the foreign ministers of all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on June 15-17, to expand its outreach to Southeast Asia as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy and become a viable partner amid China’s massive inroads into the region.

This will be the maiden occasion when India will host all 10 foreign ministers from Southeast Asia, coinciding with 30 years of India-Asean partnership and 10 years of its strategic partnership with Asean.

The meet is expected to provide a platform to discuss the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) that was announced in Tokyo last week besides issues of connectivity, investments, supply chains and maritime security, ET has learnt.

Three potential areas for India-Asean partnership are health security, digital economy and green sustainable development.

Vaccines, building efficient and resilient supply chains, digital technology and innovation have emerged as the key areas of cooperation between India and Asean member states for achieving a sustainable economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, experts on the region pointed out.

Seven Asean states have joined IPEF. India, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States and Vietnam issued a statement on IPEF in Tokyo last week, committing to a free, open, fair, inclusive, interconnected, resilient, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region that has the potential to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

There are reports that India may not invite the foreign minister representing the military junta of Myanmar and instead get a bureaucrat of the Myanmar foreign ministry.

The meet visit will coincide with the Delhi Dialogue — the annual track 1.5 conference to discuss ways to further strengthen the Asean-India Strategic Partnership.

Quad is welcome departure from Cold War era rigidities: Jaishankar

The Quad works because it is flexible and inclusive, a welcome departure from the rigidities of the Cold War era, foreign minister S Jaishankar pointed out on Wednesday.

“Charges that the Indo-Pacific derives from Cold War thinking are motivated and false. They are made by the very quarters who seek to freeze the status quo of 1945. And deny the integration that has happened in the last two decades,” Jaishankar noted while delivering the 2022 edition of Vice Admiral KK Nayyar Memorial Lecture here. “Their endeavour is to constrain the choices of others and impose their own interests,” the minister claimed without mentioning China. (The Economic Times)