I join my colleagues in welcoming His Excellency Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the 20th ASEAN-India Summit.

And again I’d like to join my colleague from Malaysia, congratulating you on a great achievement in landing a spacecraft on the southern pole of the moon. It is a testament to the very conducive hi-tech ecology that you have developed in India that has allowed this to happen. For that, we share the pride for that achievement.

Allow me also to begin by thanking India for supporting ASEAN during the last Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Meeting, where India stood in solidarity with ASEAN, especially on our call to factually update paragraphs on the South China Sea in the NAM Ministerial Outcome Document.

As a key player in the Indo-Pacific, we recognize India’s significance and influence in the region. We urge India’s continued support for ASEAN Centrality as well as efforts in promoting mutual respect, dialogue, and confidence building initiatives.

We certainly appreciate India’s constructive role in world affairs and its promotion of the rule of law as a major power in the region. ASEAN and India share a common vision for the Indo-Pacific region.

We both envision a progressive Indo-Pacific that encompasses maritime cooperation to ensure sustainable use of maritime resources – particularly in tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, promoting the blue economy, and mitigating maritime pollution, amongst others.

We thank India for co-hosting the ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME) 2023, an example of how cooperation between ASEAN and a Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue Partner could promote an open, inclusive, balanced, transparent, and rules-based regional architecture. We also welcome initiatives and projects under the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity in the Region.

On the economic front, we should continue efforts at enhancing ASEAN connectivity and supply chains efficiency to further expand mutual trade.

I congratulate both ASEAN and India for swiftly implementing the action lines of the Plan of Action (POA) 2021-2025, which, for the most part, is fully implemented. This document guides our cooperation across all pillars of the ASEAN Community.

In view of this development, we anticipate the finalization of its Annex while the Philippines is readying negotiations for the Plan of Action’s successor document. As the next country coordinator for ASEAN-India relations, we stand ready to shepherd this document.

Looking ahead, we hope to see more ASEAN-India cooperation in protecting the environment, addressing climate change, and promoting biodiversity through the ASEAN-India Green Fund.

I look forward to a productive partnership with India as the next country coordinator for ASEAN-India relations. I assure you that we will endeavor to deliver concrete programs through this partnership that will truly benefit both the region and our peoples for years to come.

Thank you.

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