Regional security, economic ties on table at India-ASEAN meet

Regional security, economic engagement and trade and security are likely to top the agenda at a meeting hosted by India, which will be attended by leaders of the ASEAN countries.
The eighth edition of Delhi Dialogue will be held in the national capital from February 17 to 19, Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East) in the foreign ministry said.
The annual event is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the 'Track 1.5 Dialogue' will focus on 'ASEAN- India Relations: A New Paradigm'. It will also see discussion on issues affecting the regions.
"Delhi Dialogue will see attendance by political leaders, policy-makers, seniors officials, diplomats, business leaders and academicians from ASEAN countries and India," Wadhwa said.

The inaugural session on February 17, the first day of the event, will be addressed by the presidents of FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM and the Secretary (East) of MEA.
The session for inter-ministerial dialogue will take place on February 18 and will be inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Sofyan Djalil, Minister for National Development Planning of Indonesia, U Tin Oo Lwin, Deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar, Vikasakdi Futrakul, Vice-Foreign Minister of Thailand, Le Hoai Trung, Vice-Foreign Minister of Vietnam, Somchith Inthamith, Vice-Minister of Industry and Commerce of Laos, Vikram Nair, Chairman of Singapore-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, Kan Paridh, Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry of Cambodia and AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary General for Community and Corporate Affairs at ASEAN are expected to attend the event.

TR Zeliang and Lal Thanhwala, the Chief Ministers of Nagaland and Mizoram, respectively, will be participating in the Ministerial Session as part of Delhi Dialogue.
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Elaborating on the enhanced cooperation between India and the Southeast Asian regional bloc, Wadhwa said, "ASEAN India Science and Technology Fund has been increased from USD 1 million to USD 5 million and we are in the process of setting up ASEAN-INDIA Innovation Platform."
Ministry of Commerce and Industry is in process of establishing a project development fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore which will help create manufacturing hubs in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar, he said.

"The regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership between ASEAN and six regional partners will be finalised in 2016 and will boost trade and investment," Wadhwa said.
There was a mention of this fund in the Budget last year and the project would be launched soon, he said, adding it is awaiting the final nod from the Cabinet.
"This would help in integrating regional value chains specifically as regards Myanmar because we are working on a trilateral highway. This has to be 'live-highway'. Which means it has to be economically sustainable. We want it to be a busy one so that the trade will be busy," Wadhwa said.

Puja Kapur, Joint Secretary (Multilateral-ASEAN), said the annual trade between the regional bloc and India now stands at around USD 76.3 billion with Indonesia topping the list in goods and Singapore in services and investment.