India to host 11th ASEM Foreign Ministers meeting

The 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers meeting would be held here on November 11 and November 12.

This is the first time India is hosting an ASEM Foreign Ministers meeting, and it would be inaugurated by Vice President Hamid Ansari, and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid would chair the meeting.

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

"As chair of the ASEM, we have been trying to push for a fresh approach that would reorient discussions of ASEM meetings from dialogue towards actual tangible cooperation, thereby taking ASEM to the next level of maturity," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told media here today.

"ASEM, traditionally, has focused on three dimensions, namely, political dialogue, economic collaboration, and socio-economic cooperation," he added.

He further said that all 51 members of ASEM are represented at this meeting

"We have received unprecedented and enthusiastic response for this meeting; we have 36 foreign ministers coming from various Asian and European countries. 12 deputy foreign ministers, and two vice-ministers are participating," he said.

ASEM is a unique forum, which is dedicated to bringing in Asia and Europe together. India joined ASEM in 2007.

"ASEM represents about 60 percent of the world's population, 52 percent of the global GDP, and 68 percent of World Trade," Akbaruddin added.