India-Asean foreign ministers discuss impact of Ukraine crisis
This was the first time India hosted a special meeting with foreign ministers of Asean. The leaders agreed to enhance cooperation in key areas such as trade, connectivity, defence and cyber security
The foreign ministers of India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Thursday discussed ways to respond to the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the regional economy and security and agreed to enhance cooperation in key areas such as trade, connectivity, defence and cyber security.
This was the first time India hosted a special meeting with foreign ministers of Asean to mark the 30th anniversary of ties with the 10-member grouping. The meeting was co-chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan, who both referred to the fallout of the war in Ukraine in their televised opening remarks.
Jaishankar said the process of post-pandemic recovery had been complicated by developments in Europe at a time when the Covid-19 crisis has not fully abated. “This path has become even more arduous with geopolitical headwinds which we face due to developments in Ukraine and its knock-on effects on food and energy security, as well as fertiliser and commodities prices, and logistics and supply chain disruptions,” he said.
Balakrishnan was more direct in his criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying Moscow’s actions have “upended the international system of rules and norms and international law which we all depend on and operate on the basis of”. He added that the “sharpening superpower rivalry between the US and China has direct implications on all of us in Asia”.
“These developments, if unchecked, can threaten the whole system of peace and stability which we have depended on for the basis of our growth, development and prosperity over many decades,” Balakrishnan said.
Though Myanmar’s ambassador attended a meeting of senior officials of India and Asean held in New Delhi on Wednesday, the country skipped the meeting of foreign ministers – an apparent response to India’s decision to follow the “Asean consensus” on having only non-political representation from Myanmar following last year’s military coup.
The foreign ministers of Laos and the Philippines too didn’t attend the meeting, apparently due to scheduling issues, and these countries were represented by senior officials.
A co-chairs’ statement, which the meeting adopted unanimously, said the two sides agreed to work towards upgrading the existing India-Asean strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and to begin an early review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make the pact more user-friendly and simple.
They further agreed to accelerate the process of endorsing the scoping paper for reviewing the AITIGA so that the Asean-India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) joint committee “can be activated to oversee the implementation of the AITIGA review”.
These steps, the statement said, will help achieve the full potential of the Asean-India trade and economic partnership, including through effective implementation of the AIFTA.
The foreign ministers also agreed to explore synergies between the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 and India’s connectivity initiatives under its “Act East” policy. They emphasised the need to speedily complete and operationalise the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, and to expand it eastwards to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as the need for more robust air and maritime connectivity.
Reiterating their commitment to multilateralism based on international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the two sides agreed to support Asean centrality in evolving a rules-based regional architecture.
They also agreed to explore cooperation between the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean’s Initiative (IPOI), especially in maritime security and connectivity, disaster risk management, search and rescue operations, and environmental protection.
Besides a proposed informal meeting of Asean-India defence ministers in November and a proposed Asean-India maritime exercise, the meeting discussed cooperation in countering terrorism and trans-national crimes through the early finalisation of a senior officials meeting on these issues.
Jaishankar said Asean’s role has become more important in view of geopolitical challenges and uncertainties. The strong convergence between the AOIP and IPOI is testimony to the shared vision of the two sides for the region, he said.
“A better connected India and Asean would be well positioned to promote decentralised globalisation and resilient and reliable supply chains that is so needed by the international community,” Jaishankar said.
The foreign ministers jointly called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval was present at this meeting.
India and Asean first established a sectoral partnership in 1992, before upgrading ties to a summit-level partnership in 2002 and a strategic partnership in 2012.
Asean includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. India has strong political and security ties with many members of the grouping.
