NEW DELHI: Top officials from India and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) held a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, a day before the foreign ministerial dialogue that is likely to seek expansion of trade and strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. The meeting reviewed the Asean-India strategic partnership and its future direction.
India is hosting the Asean summit from June 16 to 17 to mark the 30th anniversary of its relations with the 10-nation grouping. The meeting on Wednesday was chaired by Secretary (East), Saurabh Kumar, Ministry of External Affairs and was attended by senior officials from Asean member states.
A statement from the MEA said that the top officials reviewed the Asean-India strategic partnership and its future direction besides deliberating on the steps for further implementation of the “Plan of Action (2021-2025)” between the two sides.
The MEA statement added that the meeting assessed the progress of cooperation under all three pillars of partnership — political-security, economic and socio-cultural.