India, Japan agree to enhance strategic partnership for growth, development

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid met his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) here on Tuesday, and both agreed that there was a need to enhance bilateral ties and improve strategic partnership for growth and development.

This is for the first time India is hosting an ASEM Foreign Ministers meeting, which was inaugurated by Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari in Gurgaon.

Khurshid chaired the meeting and the theme of which this year is 'ASEM- Bridge to partnership for growth and development.'

The dialogue forum between representatives of Asian and European countries is expected to discuss a wide rage of issues between Asia and Europe and reinvigorate the platform to achieve tangible results in various fields.

Currently there are 51 partners in ASEM in which 49 members are from Asian and European countries and two are International Organisations, namely the ASEAN Secretariat and the European Commission.

ASEM was established in 1996 to act as a forum for inter-continental dialogue. India joined the group in 2007. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh participated in a summit in Beijing in 2008.

Currently, the ASEM represents 60 percent of the world's population, 52 percent of global Gross Domestic Product and nearly 68 percent of international trade.