Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh on Sunday said the ASEAN occupies a central place in the "security architecture" of the Asia-Pacific region and has the "unique ability" to reflect the larger interests of the world.
Singh is in Manila to represent India at the special India-ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting. During his meeting, the MoS also discussed ways to push trade and address common challenges like terrorism. India and ASEAN are celebrating 25 years of partnership this year. Philippines is the current Chair of ASEAN.
"During these 50 years, ASEAN had put behind it many of the post-decolonisation debates of this region. It navigated the Cold War very adeptly to usher in an era of high economic growth that served as a model to others. Weathering the impact of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, it then went on to expand its footprint through the East Asia Summit process," Singh said. "It is our view that precisely because ASEAN represents the cultural, commercial and physical cross-roads of the region, it has a unique ability to reflect and harmonise larger interests of the world beyond it," he added.
"On our 25th anniversary, the flower of our relationship, which spans 30 dialogue mechanisms including an annual summit and seven ministerial dialogues, is in full blossom, with the strategic, political, economic and cultural petals aglow. This bloom is being celebrated through a broad range of governmental, business, cultural and civil society interactions in India and in ASEAN nations which would culminate in a special ASEAN India Com memorative Summit," he said.