PM proposed ship expedition linking India with ASEAN
Speaking at the seventh India-ASEAN Summit, Thailand, Dr Manmohan Singh said that in 2012, India will be commemorating the 10th anniversary of the country's participation as a summit level partner of ASEAN and 20 years as a sectoral dialogue partner.
PRIME MINISTER Dr Manmohan Singh, asked the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to jointly consider organising a commemorative ship expedition in 2011-12 on the sea routes developed during the 10th and 12th centuries, which linked India with South-East Asia and East Asia. The sea route could cover modern and ancient ports in ASEAN countries and other East Asian countries.
Speaking at the seventh India-ASEAN Summit, in Thailand on Saturday (October 24), Dr Manmohan Singh said that in 2012, India will be commemorating the 10th anniversary of the country's participation as a summit level partner of ASEAN and 20 years as a sectoral dialogue partner.
He also said that India would be privileged to host the India-ASEAN Summit meeting in 2012. To ensure a substantive outcome, he said he would further propose setting up a joint task force to prepare a vision statement for India-ASEAN relations up to the year 2020, with said force taking in to account, the growing strengths of both the ASEAN countries and India and how we can jointly harness our strengths and contribute to a more peaceful and prosperous Asia.
He thanked the Prime Minister of Thailand, His Excellency Abhisit Vejjajiva, for hosting the summit in the city of Hua Hin. Dr Singh was also grateful to the government and people of Thailand for the arrangements that have been made and for their warm hospitality. He also thanked Indonesia for serving as the coordinator for India and welcomed Cambodia as the next coordinator, assuring it of the country's support.
He also extended condolences over the tragic loss of life and destruction during the recent natural calamities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam.
Dr Singh felt that the ASEAN region is synonymous with dynamic economic growth. The adoption of the ASEAN Charter in December 2008, is a manifestation of the growing profile, the group in world affairs. According to him, India's engagement with ASEAN is at the heart of its “Look East” Policy. He said that they are convinced that country's future and its economic interests are best served by greater integration with its Asian partners.
The PM felt that India-ASEAN trade has grown at a healthy rate, despite the global economic downturn. The volume of trade stood at 48 billion US dollar in 2008 and a target of 50 billion US dollar is expected to be fulfilled by 2010. With the conclusion of the Trade-in-Goods Agreement, he said it should aim for an even higher target for our trade turnover.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh also believed that India attaches high importance to the early conclusion of negotiations on the trade-in-services and investment agreement. He expressed his happiness to note that there has been good progress on all other initiatives that have been taken by the group, including those discussed at the last summit in Singapore in 2007.
These include the creation of an India-ASEAN Science and Technology Fund, the India-ASEAN Health Care Initiative, cooperation in traditional medicines, the India-ASEAN Network on Climate Change and the establishment of a Green Fund. Several programmes to promote people-to-people contacts are also being implemented. We look forward to working closely with the ASEAN and other countries of the East Asia Summit process to establish the Nalanda University as an international institution of excellence in education with a continental focus, he added.
In keeping with the theme of the ASEAN Summit of Enhancing Connectivity, Empowering Peoples, Manmohan Singh proposed the following initiatives to further strengthen the links-
Establishment of an India-ASEAN Round Table comprising think tanks, policy makers, scholars, media and business representatives to bridge the knowledge gap. The Round Table would provide policy inputs to the governments of India and the ASEAN countries on future areas of cooperation.
Intensification of negotiations on an open skies policy, further simplification of the visa regime to encourage business and tourist travel, a much larger number of youth exchange programmes, and commencement of exchanges of parliamentarians between India and the asean inter-parliamentary assembly.
Holding an ASEAN trade and industrial exhibition in India in October 2010 or January 2011.
Enhanced cooperation in the agriculture sector with a view to meeting the challenges of food security. The forthcoming meeting of our agriculture ministries in 2010, in India should identify specific areas of cooperation, including in extension services.
Cooperation in the application of space technologies. We would be ready to share satellite data for management of natural disasters, launch small satellites and scientific instruments and payloads for experiments in remote sensing and communication for space agencies and academic institutions in ASEAN countries.
Stating that India has been privileged to be a partner in the ‘Initiative for ASEAN Integration’ Programme, he said that India has been involved in projects for skills upgradation such as entrepreneurship development centres and centres for English language learning in Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic and Vietnam. He said that India would be happy to increase the number of such centers.
In addition, he said, India would be happy to participate in projects under the ASEAN’s Work Plan for 2009-2015, in areas such as education, energy, agriculture and forestry and small and medium enterprises.
Referring to ASEAN plans to develop an ASEAN ICT Master Plan for the period 2010-2015, he said India would be happy to offer its services for the realisation of this plan, and to assist in the creation of an e-network in ASEAN which could ultimately be linked up with selected Indian institutions in diverse areas.
To support all these initiatives, he said India is ready to allocate up to 50 million US dollars during the period of the ASEAN Work Plan under the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund and the ASEAN Development Fund.
He also said that India would be privileged to host the India-ASEAN Summit meeting in 2012. To ensure a substantive outcome, he said he would further propose setting up a joint task force to prepare a vision statement for India-ASEAN relations up to the year 2020, with said force taking in to account, the growing strengths of both the ASEAN countries and India and how we can jointly harness our strengths and contribute to a more peaceful and prosperous Asia.
He thanked the Prime Minister of Thailand, His Excellency Abhisit Vejjajiva, for hosting the summit in the city of Hua Hin. Dr Singh was also grateful to the government and people of Thailand for the arrangements that have been made and for their warm hospitality. He also thanked Indonesia for serving as the coordinator for India and welcomed Cambodia as the next coordinator, assuring it of the country's support.
He also extended condolences over the tragic loss of life and destruction during the recent natural calamities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam.
Dr Singh felt that the ASEAN region is synonymous with dynamic economic growth. The adoption of the ASEAN Charter in December 2008, is a manifestation of the growing profile, the group in world affairs. According to him, India's engagement with ASEAN is at the heart of its “Look East” Policy. He said that they are convinced that country's future and its economic interests are best served by greater integration with its Asian partners.
The PM felt that India-ASEAN trade has grown at a healthy rate, despite the global economic downturn. The volume of trade stood at 48 billion US dollar in 2008 and a target of 50 billion US dollar is expected to be fulfilled by 2010. With the conclusion of the Trade-in-Goods Agreement, he said it should aim for an even higher target for our trade turnover.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh also believed that India attaches high importance to the early conclusion of negotiations on the trade-in-services and investment agreement. He expressed his happiness to note that there has been good progress on all other initiatives that have been taken by the group, including those discussed at the last summit in Singapore in 2007.
These include the creation of an India-ASEAN Science and Technology Fund, the India-ASEAN Health Care Initiative, cooperation in traditional medicines, the India-ASEAN Network on Climate Change and the establishment of a Green Fund. Several programmes to promote people-to-people contacts are also being implemented. We look forward to working closely with the ASEAN and other countries of the East Asia Summit process to establish the Nalanda University as an international institution of excellence in education with a continental focus, he added.
In keeping with the theme of the ASEAN Summit of Enhancing Connectivity, Empowering Peoples, Manmohan Singh proposed the following initiatives to further strengthen the links-
Establishment of an India-ASEAN Round Table comprising think tanks, policy makers, scholars, media and business representatives to bridge the knowledge gap. The Round Table would provide policy inputs to the governments of India and the ASEAN countries on future areas of cooperation.
Intensification of negotiations on an open skies policy, further simplification of the visa regime to encourage business and tourist travel, a much larger number of youth exchange programmes, and commencement of exchanges of parliamentarians between India and the asean inter-parliamentary assembly.
Holding an ASEAN trade and industrial exhibition in India in October 2010 or January 2011.
Enhanced cooperation in the agriculture sector with a view to meeting the challenges of food security. The forthcoming meeting of our agriculture ministries in 2010, in India should identify specific areas of cooperation, including in extension services.
Cooperation in the application of space technologies. We would be ready to share satellite data for management of natural disasters, launch small satellites and scientific instruments and payloads for experiments in remote sensing and communication for space agencies and academic institutions in ASEAN countries.
Stating that India has been privileged to be a partner in the ‘Initiative for ASEAN Integration’ Programme, he said that India has been involved in projects for skills upgradation such as entrepreneurship development centres and centres for English language learning in Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic and Vietnam. He said that India would be happy to increase the number of such centers.
In addition, he said, India would be happy to participate in projects under the ASEAN’s Work Plan for 2009-2015, in areas such as education, energy, agriculture and forestry and small and medium enterprises.
Referring to ASEAN plans to develop an ASEAN ICT Master Plan for the period 2010-2015, he said India would be happy to offer its services for the realisation of this plan, and to assist in the creation of an e-network in ASEAN which could ultimately be linked up with selected Indian institutions in diverse areas.
To support all these initiatives, he said India is ready to allocate up to 50 million US dollars during the period of the ASEAN Work Plan under the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund and the ASEAN Development Fund.
 | Previous Post |
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
