KUALA LUMPUR: The 21st century is the century of India and Asean, says Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India has firmly stood together with its Asean friends during every catastrophe,” Modi said in a virtual call during the Asean-India Summit, which was part of the 47th Asean Summit, and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday (Oct 26).
He said the cooperation between the allies in the global south is increasing at a fast pace in areas such as maritime security and the blue economy.
“We are therefore declaring the year 2026 as the Asean-India Year of Maritime Cooperation. At the same time, we are also actively working to enhance our mutual cooperation in areas such as education, tourism, science and technology, health, green energy and cyber security.
“We will continue to work together to nurture our shared cultural heritage and to strengthen our people-to-people ties,” he added.
Modi said India and Asean are bound together by deep historic ties and shared values.
“We are fellow travellers from the global south. Our partnership encompasses not just trade, but culture as well. Asean is a key pillar of India's East policy.
“India has always supported Asean centrality and Asean’s outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Even in this period of uncertainty, there has been steady progress in the India-Asean Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” he added.
He said the partnership has been emerging as a cornerstone for global stability and development.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Asean is hoping to conclude the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (Aitiga) by this year.
“So there has been some real progress,” he said.
He said Malaysia has a special relation with India partly due to the large demography of ethnic Indians in Malaysia. Aside from that the two nations have strong ties in terms of trade, investments, collaboration, and universities.
Modi had to attend the meeting virtually due to the ongoing Deepavali celebrations in India.
Foreign Minister Dr S. Jaishankar represented Modi at the summit.
