Narendra Modi will also embark on his visit to Indonesia on Wednesday to attend the summits tomorrow. The forthcoming ASEAN-India Summit will be the first Summit since the elevation of ties between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations bloc of countries to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022.
The summit will review the progress of India-ASEAN relations and chart the future direction of cooperation, said the Ministry of External Affairs, adding that the East Asia Summit would provide an opportunity for leaders of ASEAN countries and its eight dialogue partners, including India, to exchange views on issues of regional and global significance. The ties between India and ASEAN have been on a significant upswing in the last few years with a focus on boosting cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defense.
This year, the ASEAN Summit will be chaired by Indonesia under the theme "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth." This theme indicates that Indonesia expects the ASEAN to be relevant and significant as the center of economic growth The 10 members of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. In August, ASEAN-India Economic Ministers met in Indonesia and the main agenda of this year’s meeting was the timely review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) which was signed in 2009, as per ANI reports.
A joint committee agreed to a regular, quarterly schedule of negotiations, which would conclude the review of the ASEAN-India FTA in 2025. In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jakarta at the invitation of Indonesian President Widodo.
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