ASEAN leaders express keen interest in enhancing partnership with India in maritime, cybersecurity domains: MEA

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have expressed a keen interest in enhancing partnership with India in the maritime and cybersecurity domains and welcomed the projects initiated by the country to support the group's plan for increased connectivity, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday.

A discussion in this regard was held during the 16th ASEAN-India summit here which had Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance. Briefing media on the same, Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East) in the MEA said that the ASEAN leaders acknowledged India's contribution in the region for peace and stability, as well as New Delhi's commitment to offering 1,000 PhD scholarships to ASEAN students at the IITs.

"The ASEAN leaders spoke of India as a long term friend, a dynamic partner, and they acknowledged India's contribution in the region for peace and stability. The leaders also welcomed India's support to the centrality of ASEAN, and India's programmes and projects which support ASEAN integration and the ASEAN master plan for connectivity," Singh said.

"They also acknowledged India's leading role in capacity-building, including in (the field of) agriculture. They expressed keen interest in enhancing partnership in maritime and cyber domains and in terms of 1000 PhD scholarships that were launched," she added.

During the discussions, the leaders affirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, safety and security in the South-China Sea, in particular, the freedom of navigation and overflight.

"They (the leaders) noted the many commonalities they have with India's Indo-Pacific vision, in particular, with the SAGAR, which stands for Security and growth for all," Singh said.

The Prime Minister, who co-chaired the summit, spoke on terrorism and the threat it poses to international peace and security, while the leaders, too, discussed the importance of working together to defeat the global menace.