EAM Jaishankar wraps up productive two-nation visit to South-East Asia

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has wrapped up a productive six-day, two-nation visit to Indonesia and Thailand from July 12-18, 2023. The visit to these South-East Asian nations saw him attend meetings under the India-ASEAN format, the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat as well as the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation Mechanism (MCG). During his visit, he advanced India's ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies, which aim to strengthen India's ties with its neighbours and promote regional integration. MEETINGS WITH ASEAN MINISTERS EAM Jaishankar co-chaired the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers with Singapore's Indian-origin Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 13, 2023. He later described the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers meeting as “warm and productive”. He also highlighted the implementation of discussions held and the targeted areas of focus extending to inter and intra country issues. On the sidelines, EAM Jaishankar met Foreign Minister Balakrishnan separately. He noted the progress in implementing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Singapore. He also had a productive meeting with Brunei's Foreign Minister Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, discussing the steady growth of bilateral cooperation and focusing on enhancing trade, food security, mobility, and space cooperation. During his stay in Indonesia, he met his counterparts under the ASEAN framework in the format of ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit, and ASEAN Regional Forum. In a string of tweets, he expressed his pleasure in meeting Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and discussing regional concerns and shared connectivity interests. He mentioned discussing economic issues and the Ukraine conflict with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He also met New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and his South Korean counterpart Park Jin. Additionally, he held meetings with his counterparts from several other countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Laos, and Vietnam, and discussed bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual concern. BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers' Retreat In Bangkok, Thailand, EAM Jaishankar attended the inaugural Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Foreign Ministers' Retreat on July 17, 2023. The retreat brought together foreign ministers from all seven BIMSTEC member countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, which currently holds the chairmanship of BIMSTEC. During the retreat, the ministers engaged in extensive discussions focused on enhancing "resilience and coordination" among themselves. The primary aim of these discussions was to explore strategies and approaches that would lead to strengthened growth and the promotion of prosperity for all involved parties. The retreat provided a valuable platform for the ministers to deliberate on various challenges and opportunities faced by their respective countries or region. The two meetings sought to identify ways to effectively navigate and mitigate potential risks and uncertainties, from economic fluctuations, to geopolitical tensions. These open dialogues constructively aimed to strengthen their bonds and extend a collaborative agreement in the pursuit of shared goals. After assessing the outcomes of these meetings, the ministers reached a consensus to conduct such gatherings on a regular basis, preferably in the first quarter of each year. In addition to attending the BIMSTEC retreat, EAM Jaishankar also participated in the 12th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation Mechanism (MGC) in Bangkok. It is a collaborative initiative involving six countries, namely India and five members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The primary objective of the MGC is to promote cooperation in various sectors, including tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications. The platform is an ideal propeller of bilateral and regional strengthening and has executed multiple joint initiatives in the identified areas of cooperation. Topics of discussion this year generally involved the promotion of travel and tourism between borders, cultural investments, joint developmental initiatives in academia and improved inter border connectivity. During the MGC meeting, EAM Jaishankar specifically focused on strengthening relations with Asia-Pacific countries and discussed global issues such as SDGs and climate change. He also discussed connectivity initiatives that have a larger regional significance and stressed the importance of expediting projects that have faced challenges in the recent past, especially the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway. On the sidelines of the BIMSTEC and MGC meetings, he also called on Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and met with Myanmar Foreign Minister Than Swe to discuss expediting projects, especially the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, and underlined the importance of ensuring peace and stability in the border areas.