Secretary (East) appreciated the role of ASEAN-led architecture particularly the ARF in advancing peace, security, and cooperation in the region….reports Asian Lite News
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in a virtual meeting on Thursday discussed terrorism, maritime and cyber security.
Secretary (East), Saurabh Kumar participated in the meeting (ARF SOM) virtually. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the ARF member states and chaired by Cambodia as the Chairperson of ASEAN.
“The meeting reviewed activities and exchanges of the 27 member ARF over the past year and deliberated on its future plans and activities. Senior Officials exchanged views on regional and international developments, and on COVID-19 pandemic, terrorism, maritime and cyber security,” said a statement.
Secretary (East) appreciated the role of ASEAN-led architecture particularly the ARF in advancing peace, security, and cooperation in the region.
Recognizing the evolving traditional and non-traditional threats in the maritime domain, he emphasised the convergence between the ASEAN Outlook for the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI) and Indo-Pacific policies announced by several ARF countries. He also shared our perspectives on the threat posed by terrorism and the challenges of cyber security.
In the current inter-sessional year, Australia, India and Indonesia co-chaired an ARF workshop on “Law of the Sea and Fisheries” on 7-8 December 2021. India, the US, and Indonesia co-chaired the 13th ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Maritime Security on 12 May 2022. India seeks to continue to contribute to ARF activities and processes in the next inter-sessional year.
India will host the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SAIFMM) on June 16 and 17 to mark the 30th anniversary of dialogue relations and the 10th anniversary of Strategic Partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Vivian Balakrishnan, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Singapore, India’s Country Coordinator, will co-chair the meeting. Foreign Ministers of other ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretary General will participate in the SAIFMM.
The year 2022 has been designated as ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
ASEAN-India dialogue relations started with the establishment of sectoral partnership in 1992 which graduated to full dialogue partnership in December 1995, Summit level Partnership in 2002, and Strategic partnership in 2012, the MEA pointed out.
“Today, ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership stands on a strong foundation. ASEAN is central to India’s Act East Policy and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific,” the MEA said.
This multi-faceted partnership encompasses many sectoral dialogue mechanisms and working groups that meet regularly at various levels and include annual Summit, Ministerial and Senior Officials’ meetings. The ongoing India-ASEAN collaboration is guided by the Plan of Action 2021-2025 which was adopted in 2020, the MEA added.
According to the MEA, while ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM), hosted by ASEAN Chair, is an annual event, the SAIFMM would be the first ASEAN-India FMM to be hosted by India in New Delhi. The SAIFMM will be preceded by 24th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on June 15.
The SAIFMM will be accompanied by the 12th edition of Delhi Dialogue, a premier Tack 1.5 Dialogue in the ASEAN-India calendar, which will be hosted by India on June 16-17. The theme of DD-XII is Building Bridges in the Indo-Pacific. The Ministerial Session of DD-XII will be attended by EAM Jaishankar and the ASEAN Ministers, the MEA said.