ASEAN leaders discuss need for working together to defeat terrorism

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) discussed the need for working together to defeat terrorism during the 16th ASEAN-India summit held here which had Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday.

Briefing media on PM Modi's engagements in Thailand, Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East) in the MEA said, "The Prime Minister spoke about terrorism and the threat that it poses to international peace and security (during the ASEAN-India summit). Similarly, the ASEAN leaders also spoke about the importance of working together to defeat terrorism."

In his remarks at the summit, the Prime Minister underlined the centrality of ASEAN in India's Act East Policy (AEP) and the Indo-Pacific vision and highlighted the convergence of the respective approaches of the two sides to the Indo-Pacific.

Modi called for the intensification of the partnership between the two sides in capacity-building in areas like agriculture, science, Information Technology, Engineering and the network of universities. He also called for greater surface, maritime, and digital connectivity, as well as greater people to people contact.

In this regard, he referred to the USD 1 billion Lines of Credit extended by India to increase the physical and digital connectivity between India and ASEAN countries.

The Prime Minister is on a three-day visit to Thailand to attend the ASEAN-India, East Asia and the RCEP summits.