Dr Ranjan highlights India's vision for Indo-Pacific region
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 01 2022:
Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh delivered the keynote address at the opening session of the international conference on "Connecting East: Confluence of IPOI and AOIP Visions" today at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, the international conference was organised by the Association of Asia Scholars in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs as part of the on-going ASEAN-India Friendship Year celebrations to mark 30 years of India's relationship with ASEAN.
During his address, Dr Rajan termed the international conference as a continuation of dialogue, carrying forward discussions and agenda from the XII- Delhi Dialogue and the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers Meeting hosted by India in June this year.
He called on the conference to explore and deliberate on implementation of the joint statement on ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) adopted by the leaders of India and ASEAN during the last summit.
Dr Rajan highlighted that India's vision for the Indo-Pacific region, as reflected through Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), resonates closely with ASEAN's own outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
Both AOIP and IPOI see Indo-Pacific as a closely integrated and interconnected region and want to see a free, open and inclusive region that ensures security and growth for all in the region, he said.
Maritime cooperation, connectivity, economic and developmental cooperation identified in the ASEAN Outlook are also priorities for India in the region, he added.
Further, he emphasised that the ongoing ASEAN-India partnership provides a strong foundation to build up cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, guided by the synergy of AOIP and IPOI.
It may be noted that the three day international conference will see close to ten thematic sessions on multilateralism and connectivity � maritime, environmental, digital, social, education; with participation of scholars, leading think tanks and diplomats from the ASEAN member States and India.