Indian PM announces 10-point plan to boost partnership with ASEAN

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced a 10-point plan to strengthen the India-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership and asserted that the ties with the regional grouping are critical to guiding Asia's future.

Addressing the ASEAN-India Summit in Vientiane, Laos, Modi expressed his belief that the 21st century is the ‘Asian Century’, a century for India and ASEAN countries.

“We are neighbors, partners in the Global South, and a rapidly growing region in the world. We are peace-loving nations that respect each other’s national integrity and sovereignty,” he was cited by The Indian Express as saying.

Today, when there is conflict and tension in many parts of the world, the friendship, coordination, dialogue and cooperation between India and ASEAN are of utmost importance, the leader affirmed.

The 10-point plan to further strengthen the India-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership includes celebrating the year 2025 as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism, for which India would make available 5 million USD towards joint activities. PM Modi also announced celebrating the decade of Act East Policy through several people-centric activities including Youth Summit, Start-up Festival, Hackathon, Music Festival, ASEAN-India Network of Think-Tanks and Delhi Dialogue. India will organise ASEAN-India Women Scientists Conclave under the ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund. Under the plan, India will double the number of scholarships at Nalanda University and provision of new scholarships for ASEAN students at Agricultural Universities in India, among others.