Ties between India and ASEAN evolving: Ansari

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On board Air India One, Nov.6 (ANI): Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, who returned home late on Thursday night, said ties between India and ASEAN are evolving, and added that the fact that he had visited four countries in the region - Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao and Indonesia - in the last two years was indicative of the importance that New Delhi attaches to fostering improved ties with member nations of the regional grouping.

Interacting with media that accompanied him on his state visit to Indonesia, Ansari said, "This (Indonesia) is the fourth ASEAN country that I have visited in the last two years. I had visited Vietnam two years ago, and more recently, I had undertaken visits to Cambodia and Lao, and now Indonesia."

The vice president further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also visited some of the ASEAN nations, and also interacted with some of the groupings leaderships at the bilateral level or met with them on the sidelines of several multilateral forums in the past year-and-a-half.

'Our Prime Minister will be visiting Malaysia sometime during the course of this month. Our "Look East" policy is now moving in the direction of an "Act East" policy . ASEAN is in focus and we are getting the right kind of responses. I see much more happening in the coming months," Ansari said.

When prompted about the relevance of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) vis-a-viz the shift in direction towards ASEAN, Ansari said, "NAM is not a doctrinal entity. It came into existence for certain purposes. NAM has moved along and adjusted to the changes and will continue to do so.