ASEAN is key to India’s Act East Policy – foreign minister

India’s Minister for External Affairs Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, for meetings with counterparts from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has restated the role of the regional bloc in the emerging dynamics of maritime security in the Indo-Pacific. 

Dr Jaishankar made his remarks on Thursday at the opening session of the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference, which was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi. 

“ASEAN is a crucial pillar of India’s Act East Policy and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific. A strong and unified ASEAN plays an important role in the emerging dynamic of the Indo-Pacific. India firmly supports ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific,” said the Indian minister, who is on a visit to Indonesia and Thailand from July 12 to 18.

The Act East Policy was launched by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 –the year he took office– for a deeper engagement in the Asia-Pacific and to replace the erstwhile Look East Policy of 1991, whose unveiling coincided with the South Asian nation’s economic liberalization.

Dr Jaishankar weighed in on the bloc’s expanding role as it solidifies “existing co-operations as comprehensive strategic partners.” “We look forward to working with ASEAN to further expand our partnership to include newer areas, while strengthening existing cooperation. I refer here, especially to cyber, financial and maritime security domains,” he added.

Earlier, on Thursday, Dr Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Lavrov in Jakarta and deliberated on the Ukraine conflict and on bilateral economic issues. China’s Wang also held bilateral meetings with Lavrov and Blinken on the sidelines of the summit, Reuters reported. Jaishankar also held talks with his counterparts from Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, South Korea, New Zealand and Thailand.