India makes its presence felt on maiden entry at ASEM: PM

ON BOARD PM'S SPECIAL AIRCRAFT: India, as a major emerging economy, has made its presence felt when it joined the ASEM grouping in Beijing, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

"India is a major emerging economy, and this is the first time we were there and made our presence felt," Singh said referring to his participation at the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit which concluded today.

India formally joined the ASEM and participated for the first time in the summit, attended by world leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jibao.

On all pressing topics, there was great eagerness on the part of ASEM's 45-member nations to hear where India stands on these issues, Singh told reporters accompanying him to Japan and China.

"Whether it was the issue of global financial crisis or whether it was the Millennium Development Goals or the issue of sustainable development. A great deal of attention was paid to India's viewpoint," Singh said.

And this is a forum for dialogue a forum where major powers from Asia and Europe can sit together, deal with problems which are affecting them both.

The summit also welcomed five other new members -- Bulgaria, Mongolia, Pakistan, Romania, and the Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).