India's Deputy Minister of External Affairs (East) Jaideep Mazumdar. (Source: Flickr)
According to a VNA correspondent in New Delhi, India's Deputy Minister of External Affairs for the East Jaideep Mazumdar affirmed on March 12: "The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an important pillar in India's Act East Policy and its vision for the broader Indo-Pacific region."
The above statement was made by Mr. Jaideep Mazumdar at the 27th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting (AISOM) in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
In an official statement, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the AISOM conference was co-chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Jaideep Mazumdar and his Philippine counterpart Theresa P. Lazaro.
The meeting was attended by senior officials and representatives of all ASEAN member states and Timor Leste, a country with observer status in ASEAN, and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN. The Philippines is currently the country coordinator for ASEAN-India dialogue relations.
The MEA said the 27th AISOM reviewed the implementation of the decisions of the ASEAN-India Summit/ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting (PMC+1) on the three pillars of cooperation, namely political-security, economic and socio-cultural.
The Senior Officials appreciated the progress in implementing the 10-Point Proposal announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Laos in 2024 to further strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the designation of 2025 as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism.
According to the MEA, key issues discussed at the summit included tourism cooperation, early completion of the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), digital partnership, maritime, connectivity, healthcare, innovation and development, and regional and global issues.
Notably, preparations for the ASEAN-India Summit and the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting scheduled to be held later this year in Malaysia were also discussed.
ASEAN appreciated India's continuous support for ASEAN and for the ASEAN-led architecture in the region./.
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