Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India-ASEAN friendship was very important at a time when parts of the world were facing conflicts and tensions, adding that the 21st century is the century of ASEAN.
“We are peace-loving countries, respect each other’s national integrity and sovereignty and we are committed to the bright future of our youth. I believe that the 21st century is the century of India and ASEAN countries,” PM Modi said during his address at the ASEAN-India Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
He added, “Today when there is a situation of conflict and tension in many parts of the world, the friendship, cooperation, dialogue and cooperation of India and ASEAN are very important.”
On India’s Act-East policy
PM Modi launched India’s Act-East policy a decade ago. Reflecting on the progress made under the policy, the prime minister said, “In the last decade, this policy has given new energy, direction and momentum to the historic relations between India and ASEAN countries. In the last 10 years, our trade with the ASEAN region has almost doubled to over 130 billion dollars.”
He also highlighted that today India has direct flights to as many as seven ASEAN countries with efforts underway to create flight connectivity with Brunei.
PM Modi also underlined the need to complete the review of the ASEAN-India FTA (AITIGA) in a time-bound manner towards harnessing greater economic potential for the benefit of the ASEAN-India community.
With inputs from agencies
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