Plan of Action to decide agenda of ASEAN-India cooperation: MEA official

KOLKATA: The future agenda for ASEAN-India cooperation will flow from the Plan of Action 2016-2021 to implement the ASEAN-India Partnership for peace, progress and shared prosperity, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs said today.

"The Plan of Action (POA) is currently under discussion and is expected to include initiatives to deepen people-to-people and business linkage," Joint Secretary ( ASEAN Multilateral) Ministry of External Affairs Pooja Kapur said.

"Some ideas thrown up in the discussion include establishment of an ASEAN-India Trade and Investment Centre, reactivation of the ASEAN-India Business Council, projects in skill development, food security and new and renewable energy, and further improvement of physical and people-to-people connectivity," Kapur said.

Kapur was speaking at the Kolkata Dialogue on Look East to Act East: New Frontiers in Trade, Investment and Business Cooperation organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here today.

"Future of India's Act East approach will also rest on the strong bilateral ties that we enjoy with most countries of the region. These relationships are largely 'sans irritants'. Our strategic partnerships with Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia will further complement our strategic partnership with ASEAN," Kapur stated.

According to the official, India is also active in a plurality of multilateral fora such as the East Asia Summit, Mekong Ganga Cooperation and the The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), to engage meaningfully with countries of the region.

"We have in particular been vocal in the East Asia summit which includes extra-regional powers such as the US and is the premier forum at the level of Heads of State and Government for strategic dialogue and cooperation in the region on political, security and economic issues," she said.

The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation which includes India, the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) countries and Thailand is another promising platform for enhancing cooperation between our countries in tourism, culture, education, transport and communications, she said.