India for speeding up connectivity projects with Asean...

India for speeding up connectivity projects with Asean...

India has been pushing for a review of the India-Asean trade in goods agreement, which entered into force in January 2010.

India on Wednesday called for the speeding up of regional connectivity projects with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), including the trilateral highway with Myanmar and Thailand and the Kaladan transit transport project.

While speaking at the virtual Asean-India foreign ministers meeting, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said New Delhi was also looking to an early review of the trade in goods agreement. In a set of tweets, Jaishankar described the meeting as “substantive and fruitful”.

India, he tweeted, was looking forward to “accelerate our connectivity projects, especially trilateral highway and Kaladan project”. He didn’t give details.

The Indian side has helped construct two key stretches of the 1,360-km trilateral highway in Myanmar, but work on several other sections and the upgrade of nearly 70 bridges has been held up by a variety of factors. 

India believes the highway, which will run from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand, will allow it to access markets across the Asean region and boost people-to-people ties.

Much of India’s interests and relationships now lie to its East, a testimony of its ties with Asean,” Jaishankar said in a tweet. India also seeks convergence between its Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and the Asean outlook on the Indo-Pacific, he said.

At the same time, India will support the initiative for Asean integration through capacity-building initiatives and also contribute through Mekong-Ganga cooperation and quick impact projects, he added.

Jaishankar noted that the two sides had been strong partners in the Covid-19 response, including on medicines, oxygen, equipment and logistics. While backing the Asean position on resolving maritime issues, Jaishankar said India believes the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sets out the “accepted legal framework for all maritime activities”.

The five-point consensus, adopted at an Asean leaders’ meeting in April following the military coup in Myanmar, called for an immediate cessation of violence and utmost restraint from all parties, constructive dialogue to find a peaceful solution, the appointment of a special envoy to facilitate mediation, provision of humanitarian aid, and visit to Myanmar by the special envoy.

Asean on Wednesday announced Brunei’s second minister for foreign affairs, Erywan Yusof, had been appointed as the special envoy. The appointment was delayed by divisions within the grouping.