India Inaugurates Mission to Asean
[Updated at 2:35 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2014 to include comments from India's External Affairs Minister, background on Indian-Asean relations]
Jakarta. India inaugurated on Thursday the Indian Mission to Asean at its office in Kuningan, South Jakarta, to strengthen cooperation with the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Inaugurating the mission, Indian Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India would play a more active role with member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and to boost trade, investment, security and connectivity ties.
Suresh K. Reddy, who was inaugurated as ambassador of the Indian Mission to Asean, said that the mission’s presence reflected India’s commitment to Asean.
Reddy said on Thursday that this is the first step of India’s commitment to intensify engagement with friends in the Asean community.
Asean Secretary General Le Luong Minh, who was also present at the inauguration, welcomed the mission, stating that it could help establish stronger and better relations between India and Asean countries.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a statement that Asean was at the core of India’s Act East Policy and that the establishmet of a mission to Asean would bring more focus, objectivity, synergy and speed to India’s growing engagement with Asean and Asean-centric processes.
Bilateral trade between India and Asean is estimated at almost $80 billion and two-way investments at more than $56 billion, according to the statement from the mission. India and some Asean members ratified the Asean-India Trade-in-Services and Investment Agreements signed in November in Myanmar. India and Asean are collaborating on a wide range of areas including agriculture, education, environment, new and renewable energy, science and technology, space sciences, tourism and small and medium-sized enterprises, the mission said.
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