Myanmar is an ASEAN member state and the participation of Myanmar in the upcoming Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting is as per the consensus of the association, said Arindam Bagchi, MEA Spokesperson on Thursday.
Replying to a question on whether Myanmar's Foreign Minister will also be a part of the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting, Bagchi said, "ASEAN meeting is in the ASEAN format and Myanmar is an ASEAN member state. So, the participation of Myanmar in this Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting is as per ASEAN consensus in this regard."
Marking the 30th anniversary of India-ASEAN dialogue relations and the 10th anniversary of the country's strategic partnership with ASEAN, India will host the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting on June 16-17, said Bagchi.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will co-chair the meeting. Foreign Ministers of other ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretary-General will participate in the meeting.
ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meetings are hosted by the ASEAN chair on an annual basis and this will be the first Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting to be hosted by India in New Delhi.
It will be preceded by the 24th India-ASEAN senior officials meeting which will take place on June 15. The 12th edition of the Delhi Dialogue will also be hosted by India on June 16-17. The theme of the Delhi Dialogue is "Building Bridges in the Indo-Pacific." The ministerial session of this Delhi Dialogue will be attended by the EAM Jaishankar as well as ASEAN ministers.
The year 2022 marks 30 years of ASEAN-India relations and it has been designated as ASEAN-India Friendship Year by the leaders in October 2021.
India began formal engagement with ASEAN in 1992 as a "Sectoral Dialogue Partner" (and subsequently as a "Dialogue Partner" in 1996. The initial years as a Dialogue Partner (DP) entailed interaction at the Foreign Minister level which was further upgraded to the Summit level in 2002 when the first such Summit level meeting was held.
At the 20 years Commemorative Summit Meeting in New Delhi (December 2012) the India-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership was further elevated to a Strategic Partnership.
During the 25-year Commemorative Summit in New Delhi (January 2018), India and ASEAN have further agreed that the Strategic Partnership will be focused on building cooperation in the maritime domain.
Engagement with ASEAN is a multi-level interaction process. At the apex is the annual summits ("ASEAN-India Summit") supported by meetings at the Foreign Minister level.
In 2021, the 18th ASEAN-India Summit was held on October 28, 2021; AIFMM was held on August 4, 2021, and the 23rd AISOM was held on April 28, 2021.
The cycle of meetings begins at Ambassador's level, ASEAN India Joint Cooperation Committee Meeting (AIJCC), which was held on 23 March 2022.
On October 28, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the 18th India-ASEAN Summit with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei. The Summit was held virtually and sawparticipation from the Leaders of ASEAN Member States.
Moreover, on October 27, 2021, PM Modi participated in the 16th East Asia Summit viavideoconference hosted by Brunei. It saw the participation of leaders from ASEAN countries andother EAS Participating Countries including Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, USA and India.
( With inputs from ANI )
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