Ties with Asean cornerstone of India's Act East Policy: Official

Ties with the 10-member Asean regional grouping was one of the cornerstones of India's foreign policy and the foundation of its Act East Policy, a top official said on Thursday.

Anil Wadhwa, secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry, while delivering the keynote address at the Academic Session of the Delhi Dialogue VII on 'Asean-India: Shaping the Post-2015 Agenda', said: "India and the Asean share a vision of a peaceful, prosperous and a resurgent Asia, which contributes to global peace and security."

Wadhwa emphasised the need to work towards transforming this vision into reality and taking the Asean-India strategic partnership to the next high level, at the event organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

He said there has been a "deepening of cooperation across the three pillars of our relationship -- politico-security, economic and socio-cultural, in the last 23 years."

Speaking about Asia's role in today's scenario, he said that with the evolving of political, economic and security structures, the continent was assuming new responsibilities.

In this scenario, Asean and India were, and will remain, natural partners in defining their perspectives and addressing their common requirements of economic growth and prosperity.