India, Pak among 6 new partners of ASEM
India and Pakistan are among the six new cooperation partners who will be part of the enlarged Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) when the grouping meets again in Beijing in 2008.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan are among the six new cooperation partners who will be part of the enlarged Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) when the grouping meets again in Beijing in 2008. The decision to increase the ASEM membership from 39 to 45 was taken at the sixth ASEM summit in Helsinki earlier this week.
Others to be included in the partnership between the two continents are Bulgaria and Romania from Europe and Mongolia and the Asean Secretariat from the Asian side, according to an official statement. The enlargement is expected to increase the international importance of ASEM.
With the new partners, almost 60% of the world's population will be involved in ASEM cooperation. The current parties to ASEM cooperation are the member states of the European Union, the European Commission, the 10 ASEAN countries, China, Japan and South Korea.
The participating countries adopted two declarations at the summit. In the Helsinki Declaration on the future of ASEM, the leaders set the guidelines for future ASEM cooperation. It also contains recommendations for practical measures for the development of cooperation.
The second declaration on climate change was for adding momentum to efforts to reach agreement in international climate negotiations, the release said. It supports the objectives of the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change and other measures to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
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The summit agenda covered other important European and Asian affairs including ways to prevent terrorism and organised crime and to prepare for global health risks. The meeting reconfirmed its support for the fair, UN-based international system.The leaders also discussed the state of the WTO talks. The ASEM countries underlined that the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) must be complemented and supported to allow the negotiations to resume.
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