Jakarta, Nov. 2 : Vice President M. Hamid Ansari today said that the country looked forward to the support of Indonesia as India moved forward with its Act East Policy.
“Indonesia is the largest ASEAN member and India looks forward to its continued support as we move to increase our engagement with ASEAN member states as part of our Act East policy,” Vice President said while addressing a joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla here.
“We congratulate the Government of Indonesia for successfully organising the 60th Asian African Conference Commemoration in April 2015 and for assuming chairmanship of Indian Ocean Rim Association ( IORA) last week,” he added.
Under the new leadership in Delhi, India’s Look East policy was morphed into a proactive Act East policy, which envisages accelerated across-the-board engagement between the two growth poles of a vibrant Asia.
In an attempt to intensify India’s Act East Policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his maiden trip to Myanmar from November 11 to 14 to attend his first India-ASEAN summit and the 18-nation East Asia Summit.
The focus of this summit will be on pitching this crucial multi-layered relationship with this economically renascent region, which is home to around 600 million people and accounts for USD 2.5 trillion GDP, onto a higher trajectory.
Commerce, Culture and Connectivity are the three pillars of India’s robust engagement with the ASEAN. In the economic arena, the India-ASEAN relations are poised to scale new frontiers. The two sides are expected to sign an India- ASEAN FTA in services and investments soon. (ANI)