New Delhi (VNA) – It is time for theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India to elevate theirstrategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation to a new height, for peace,security and prosperity in the region and the world, Foreign MinisterBui Thanh Son said at the Special ASEAN-IndiaForeign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi on June 16.

The two sides should uphold their shared values,promote dialogues, cooperation and trust building, and work to limitdifferences and conflicts, the minister suggested.

Stressing the great potential of both sides, Sonsaid they should increase mutual support in improving medical capacity andimplementing the bilateral free trade agreement, while expanding collaborationin digital transformation, innovation and regional development, including theMekong-Ganga cooperation.

He spoke highly of India’s support for ASEAN’sstance on the East Sea, and called on the nation to further back the grouping’sefforts in turning the sea into peaceful, stable, cooperative, and environmentallyfriendly waters.

The Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meetingmarks the 30th anniversary of the partnership between the two sides(1992-2022), during which Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar affirmed thatASEAN is an important pillar in India’s Act East Policy and its foreign policyat large, and is the centre of the South Asian country’s Indo-Pacific OceansInitiative (IPOI).

India supports ASEAN’s centrality in the evolvingregional architecture, attaches importance to its neighbourliness with the bloc,and wishes to advance the relationship to a comprehensive strategicpartnership.

The ASEAN ministers, for their part, shared theirview on progress in the relations over the past three decades, saying India isnow ASEAN’s seventh biggest trade partner with two-way trade revenue up nearly23 times in the past 30 years.

They agreed to enhance the ASEAN-India relationship,effectively contributing to regional peace, security and stability, byeffectively implementing the 2021 ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation onthe ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity inthe Region and the 2021-2025 Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-IndiaPartnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity.

They will also utilise the ASEAN-India market with acombined population of nearly 2 billion and total GDP of some 6 trillion USD.

ASEAN will also talk with India over theestablishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership that should bepractical, effective and mutually beneficial, the ministers noted.

The two sides consented to further prioritise recovery,improve medical capacity, and step up sustainable maritime cooperation and collaborationin the fight against terrorism, transnational crime and extreme violence.

They will foster economic and trade links to soonbring the two-way trade value to 200 billion USD, and intensify digital connectivity,as well as cultural, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

They concurred to soon resume talks on the building ofan air transport agreement, and beef up cooperation in other spheres likescience-technology, digital transformation, energy, climate change response,and green, sustainable development.

Regarding regional and international issues, the twosides agreed to continue coordination in maintaining peace, stability,security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

India supports ASEAN to promote dialogues, buildtrust, and fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea (DOC) and establish a substantive, effective and efficientCode of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law and the1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), Minister Jaishankarsaid.

He also affirmed India’s further support for ASEAN’srole and efforts in helping Myanmar to seek solutions to stabilise itssituation.

ASEAN groups 10 countries namely Brunei, Cambodia,Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, andVietnam./.