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ASEAN is and always will be the heart of our Act East Policy: PM Modi

Published By : Admin | November 3, 2019 | 11:58 IST

Your Excellency Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha,
Excellencies,
Your Majesty,

I am pleased to meet you once again at the India-ASEAN Summit format. I thank Thailand for the excellent arrangements and hospitality of the highest standard. I also wish Vietnam all the best to chair the ASEAN and East Asia Summits next year.

Excellencies,

I welcome the mutual coordination of the Indo-Pacific Outlook between India and ASEAN. India's Act East Policy is an important part of our Indo-Pacific vision. ASEAN is and always will be the heart of our Act East Policy. Integrated, organized and economically developing ASEAN is in India's basic interest. We are committed to further strengthen our partnership through stronger surface, maritime and air-connectivity and digital-link. $ 1 billion line of credit will be useful for physical and digital connectivity. Our intention is to greatly increase the traffic of people for study, research, trade and tourism.

To achieve this goal, India is ready to increase partnership with ASEAN in the area of mutual interests. Implementing the decisions taken last year at the Commemorative Summit and the Informal Summit in Singapore has brought us closer. We are ready to further increase capacity building and partnerships in areas such as agriculture, science, research, ICT and engineering. I welcome the recent decision to review the ASEAN-India FTA.

This will not only make our economic relations more stronger, but our trade will also be balanced. We also want to strengthen our partnership in the areas of maritime security, blue economy and humanitarian aid. After listening to the views of your Excellencies, I would like to talk about some aspects in detail. I once again express my deep gratitude to Thailand and all of you from the heart.

This will not only make our economic relations more stronger, but our trade will also be balanced. We also want to strengthen our partnership in the areas of maritime security, blue economy and humanitarian aid. After listening to the views of your Excellencies, I would like to talk about some aspects in detail. I once again express my deep gratitude to Thailand and all of you from the heart.

Disclaimer: PM's speech was delivered in Hindi. This is an approximate translation of the speech

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State Visit of Prime Minister to Seychelles
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