PM asks Asean for ‘more connectivity’

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Hours after an unscheduled meeting Saturday between US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, after the American leader appeared to cold-shoulder the latter at the gala dinner the night before, Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh pitched again for greater India-Asean cooperation and greater connectivity between India and the Southeast Asian bloc.
Speaking at the Bali International Convention Centre on Saturday, Dr Singh said it was imperative that a “commercially-meaningful” services and investment pact be in place by March 2012. “This would create a positive atmosphere for implementation of the India-Asean Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement as envisaged in our 2003 framework agreement. We should endorse the decision taken in October 2011 to conclude the agreement by March 2012,” he said.
Dr Singh added: “Our partnership with Asean is one of the cornerstones of our foreign policy, and the foundation of our ‘Look East’ policy.”
He said: “I believe our cooperation is on the right path. Given the global economic downturn, there is today an even greater urgency to our cooperation.”
The Prime Minister noted that the India-Asean Free Trade Agreement for Trade in Goods had come into effect in all Asean countries and India after Cambodia ratified it in August 2011. “I seek your support for the early conclusion of a commercially-meaningful Services and Investment Agreement. This would create a positive atmosphere for the implementation of the India-Asean Comprehen-sive Economic Cooperation Agreement as envisaged in our Framework Agreement of 2003,” he told Asean’s leaders.
On the much-talked-about corridor between India and Southeast Asia, he said: “Greater physical connectivity between India and Asean remains our strategic objective. There are several proposals under consideration with regard to land and sea connectivity. These include the India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway, its extension to Laos and Cambodia and the development of a new highway also linking Vietnam.”
“We also have a study on a Mekong-India Economic Corridor conducted by the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia which proposes linking of corridors in the peninsular, and possibly the northeast regions of India with the East Asian region,” he added.