Act East gets fillip with Indian mission to Asean

India took a major step to cement its close association with the Asean and give a fillip to its Act East policy by inaugurating an independent Indian mission to the Southeast Asian bloc here on Thursday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, addressing the inauguration event here, said the setting up of the mission with a separate ambassador to Asean "reflects our government's sincere commitment to intensify our engagement with this important regional grouping".

"Asean lies at the core of India's Act East Policy and at the centre of our dream of an Asian century. We cherish the deep and abiding historical and civilisational links that anchor our relationship," she said.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $2.4 trillion, is estimated to grow at 5 percent over the next decade. The bloc has a population of 600 million, largely youthful.

Sushma Swaraj said India through its 'Act East Policy' was focusing on reorienting the partnership to make it more pragmatic, action driven and result oriented.

"We are committed to intensifying our cooperation in security, trade, investment, connectivity, capacity-building and strengthening people-to-people linkages," she said.

She said India was ready to play a more pro-active role in the politico-security sphere.

"I must convey our strong resolve to match the expectations of our friends in the region for India to play a more proactive role. We would also be happy to work with Asean member states and other participating countries of the East Asia Summit process to bolster cooperation in collectively addressing the various traditional and non-traditional security challenges in order to ensure peace and stability in Southeast Asia and the greater Asia-Pacific region."

Many of the Asean countries have been urging India to play a more proactive role in the security architecture of the region, especially with regard to South China Sea.

Sushma Swaraj said India has ratified the Asean-India Trade-in-Services and Investment Agreements, which was inked last year.

While some of the Asean nations have ratified it, some are yet to do so.

She urged the remaining nations to "complete their respective domestic internal processes at the earliest, paving the way for the entry into force of both agreements later this year. This will enable us to harness the huge potential for mutual investment as well as realise accelerated trade growth", she said.

The Asean-India Trade in Goods agreement inked in 2009 created one of world's largest free trade areas (FTA) - a market of around 1.8 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion.

The agreement, which came into force on January 1, 2010 helped boost bilateral trade, from $44 billion in 2009-10 to over $74 billion in 2013-14.

Sushma Swaraj said India was keen to engage in constructive discussions on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which involves Asean and its six dialogue partners, to ensure its early fruition with a balanced outcome in goods and services.

She said India was also striving to transform the connectivity corridors into corridors of economic cooperation.

She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced at the 12th Asean-India Summit the establishing of a Special Facility to facilitate project financing and quick implementation of connectivity projects.

"We are currently working out the modalities of this Special Facility," she said.

She said India was also looking to expand air connectivity, particularly between northeast India and Southeast Asia, to support the growing people-to-people linkages.

Sushma Swaraj said Indian officials were working on drafting the next five-year Action Plan for 2016-21 for furthering Asean-India Cooperation.

"I am confident that in the coming days, our mission to Asean will bring more focus, objectivity, synergy and speed to our engagement with Asean and the Asean-centric processes," she said.