ASEAN-India Reaffirm Commitment to Strengthen Cooperation

Senior Officials from ASEAN and India, meeting at the 18th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting (AISOM) held in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on 18 March 2016, reaffirmed the commitment to further enhance cooperation and strengthen relations between both sides within the framework of the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.
The Senior Officials agreed to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the agreed projects and activities of the new ASEAN-India Plan of Action 2016-2020 that was endorsed by the Leaders last year.
The Meeting discussed the ASEAN Connectivity plans and noted India’s commitment to support ASEAN realise its connectivity goals, including the establishment of a US$1 billion line of credit for ASEAN Members States to tap for connectivity projects. Recognising the importance of people-to-people connectivity, the Meeting called for enhanced cultural exchanges involving youth, media and intellectuals, and in this regard noted the plan to convene the 2nd International Conference on ASEAN-India Cultural and Civilizational Links in Jakarta this year.
On economic cooperation, both sides agreed that more could be done to further strengthen trade and investment, in particular to achieve the proposed target of at least US$200 billion in two-way trade by 2022. Both sides noted the importance of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and agreed to work toward its completion by this year.
Vietnam is ASEAN’s Coordinator for ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations from 2015 to 2018.
Press-release at the official ASEAN web-site