New Delhi, Oct 28,2021: India and the 10-member ASEAN on Thursday adopted a joint statement that noted synergies between ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), and reaffirmed the AOIP’s objectives and principles to promote an Indo-Pacific region that embraces ASEAN Centrality, openness, transparency, inclusivity, a rules-based framework and respect for international law, including UNCLOS.
Titled ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity in the Region, it recalled the civilisational linkages, maritime connectivity and cross-cultural exchanges between Southeast Asia and India over several millennia as a strong foundation for the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.
It committed to supporting ASEAN Community building and strengthening the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership across the whole spectrum of political- security, economic, socio-cultural, and development cooperation by utilising relevant ASEAN-led mechanisms and fora, including the ASEAN-India Summit, East Asia Summit (EAS), the Post Ministerial Conference with India (PMC+1), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), and the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF).
It decided to Reinforce the ASEAN-centred regional architecture and to deepen the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership by exploring potential cooperation between the AOIP and the IPOI – including in the four areas outlined in the AOIP, namely, maritime cooperation, connectivity, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and economic and other possible areas of cooperation.
Both sides decided to enhance existing cooperation and explore possible cooperation in the areas of capacity building, provision of scholarships, training courses and workshops for professionals and proactive stakeholder engagement, to support the implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plans;
Strengthening ASEAN-India economic relations, including through enhancing trade facilitation and increasing the utilisation of the ASEAN- India Free Trade Area;
Exploring key priority areas of cooperation to reinforce the existing Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 and promote prosperity and development in the Indo-Pacific region; and exploring potential synergies with sub-regional frameworks, such as, the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), Mekong sub-regional cooperation frameworks, including Ayeyawady- Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS);
The other areas of proposed cooperation included in the domain of maritime transport, social infrastructure development, Information and communications technology (ICT) cooperation, Capacity Building for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Energy security, Environment protection, Development of the agriculture, livestock and fishery sectors, Sustainable management of marine resources, Collaboration on maritime education, research, development; Biodiversity conservation and management, Climate change adaptation and mitigation, Maritime cooperation, including on maritime security.
