Tag: ASEAN

India insists on a “balanced and collectively satisfactory” RCEP

- by India Writes Network

Ahead of the special India-ASEAN commemorative summit, India has underlined the need for a fair and balanced outcome for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the largest free trade area which is currently under negotiation between 16 countries.In the run up to the summit on January 25 in New Delhi, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu stressed that that India would agree to this mega free trade agreement provided sensitivities and aspirations of all partner countries are adequately addressed.
Speaking at the ‘ASEAN-India Business and Investment Meet and Expo’ in New Delhi on January 22, Mr Prabhu said: “It is important to address the sensitivity of member countries and their aspirations as negotiations gather momentum. We would all aim to achieve an RCEP that results in the realization of the potential of the three key pillars of RCEP—goods, services, investment—in a manner that is balanced and collectively satisfactory. Keeping this in view, India will be working closely and constructively with all RCEP member countries, particularly Asean, towards early conclusion of negotiations”.

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India, Singapore deepen strategic connect, ink naval deals

- by India Writes Network

Amid China’s growing assertion in the maritime space, India and Singapore have concluded a crucial pact on enhancing naval cooperation. The bilateral Agreement for Navy Cooperation, signed on November 29, is aimed at expanding India-Singapore cooperation in ensuring freedom of navigation, right of passage and over-flight, unimpeded commerce and access to resources and fighting a host of other security challenges.India’s Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen held talks in New Delhi to finalise the deals.The agreements come at an important moment when India is trying to assert its presence in the Indian Ocean amidst increasing Chinese forays in the maritime space.“The conclusion of the India-Singapore Bilateral Agreement for Navy Cooperation…will lead to increased cooperation in maritime security, joint exercises, temporary deployments from each other’s naval facilities and mutual logistics support,” India’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.

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ASEAN-India music festival: Sounds of the future

- by India Writes Network

In a world where border walls are becoming the norm and doors are being shut to keep ‘the others’ out, the ASEAN-India music festival is aiming to do just the opposite – making borders translucent, even irrelevant with the power of music and free flow of ideas.
The first ever edition of the unique festival being organised by India’sMinistry of External Affairs, in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Seher, an NGO, aims to initiate a new musical dialogue to celebrate cultural diversity and foster a spirit of collaboration and ever-more connectedness between India and 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The three-day festival (Oct 6-8), to be held in New Delhi’s iconic 16th century fortress Purana Qila, is part of a series of special events being organised to commemorate 25 historic years of India’s dialogue partnership with the ASEAN, themed around ‘Shared Values, Common Destiny’.

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