India helps ASEAN-centrality within the Indo-Pacific area: Dhankhar

India helps ASEAN-centrality within the evolving regional structure within the Indo-Pacific area, stated Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the nineteenth ASEAN-India summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia which is commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the India-ASEAN dialogue. During the summit, the delegations declared the institution of the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and reaffirmed the significance of “freedom of navigation and overflight” within the strategically necessary area.

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

“The cultural economic and civilisational ties that have existed between India and Southeast Asia since time immemorial provided the strong foundation to build our partnership in modern times from a sectoral partnership in 1992 to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022,” stated Vice President Dhankhar. A Joint Statement issued on the event recognised the significance of “unimpeded lawful maritime commerce” saying that disputes ought to be resolved by following “universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the relevant standards and recommended practices by the International Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

Both sides also agreed to intensify maritime cooperation including anti-piracy operations, armed robbery against ships, maritime safety, search and rescue (SAR) operations, humanitarian assistance, and emergency response and relief. Among other security measures, both sides announced plans to enhance collaboration against “terrorism and transnational crimes including international economic crimes and money laundering, cybercrime, drugs and human trafficking and arms smuggling.” “Military medicine” can be an space that drew consideration throughout the deliberation.

Both sides agreed to boost cooperation within the area sector together with “through the establishment of Tracking, Data reception and Processing Stations in Viet Nam and Indonesia”. India and ASEAN agreed to expedite the evaluation of the ASEAN-India commerce in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to render it “trade-facilitative”. In a press convention after the summit, Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar stated Indian tourism with Cambodia will obtain a lift within the coming months. “Number of Indian tourists arriving in ASEAN region is not very high. But we feel tourism will increase if our connectivity improves,” stated Mr. Kumar.

As a part of sustaining “ASEAN-Centrality”, the 2 sides reaffirmed the significance of deepening dialogue and coordination by way of ASEAN-led mechanisms together with the ASEAN-India Summit, the East Asia Summit, the Post-Ministerial Conference with India (PMC+1), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF). Secretary (East) Kumar stated the ADMM-Plus degree assembly will happen later this month, informing that it’s the first time such a gathering will happen.

Both sides additionally agreed to deepen cooperation within the digitally supported agriculture sector to make sure a “future-ready, resilient, sustainable food supply”. The Joint Statement indicated that the ASEAN-India partnership will discover synergies with sub-regional groupings just like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) amongst others.

Vice President Dhankhar is visiting Phnom Penh for the ASEAN-India summit and the East Asia Summit scheduled for Sunday. The Joint Statement didn’t point out the influence of the present international turmoil due to the Ukraine disaster however the situation is predicted to dominate the East Asia Summit for which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reached Phnom Penh.