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India to officially begin diplomatic mission to ASEAN
Suresh K
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Suresh K. Reddy - JP/Wendra Ajisetyatama
India is set to officially begin a diplomatic mission in the ASEAN region on April 22 in a bid to boost ties with member states of what it calls a unique grouping of countries with high economic potential.
Indian Ambassador to ASEAN Suresh K. Reddy said India's relations with ASEAN were very important because of the current economic potential existing between his country and ASEAN.
He said India had a robust flow of investments into Southeast Asian nations and vice versa.
'Our trade is healthy,' he said on the sidelines of a soft opening of the Indian Mission to ASEAN held in Central Jakarta on Monday.
Suresh said the value of trade between India and ASEAN was currently US$90 billion but hopefully could be increased to $200 billion.
The newly installed ambassador also said India and ASEAN were similar in terms of economic growth, which was led by the private sector.
'When we look at the strong economic growth of India and of ASEAN members, actually, there is a lot of potential to be tapped into,' Suresh said.
He expected to see more economic partnerships between India's companies and those of Southeast Asian nations.
'So, there is a lot of synergy existing between India's private sector and that of ASEAN countries. That is one of our focuses,' Suresh told The Jakarta Post.
According to him, Indian relations with ASEAN were very important not only in terms of economic cooperations, but also because of long-maintained historical ties.
Suresh said that India was a country that historically had very close relations with all ASEAN countries.
'Our relations are not suddenly started today or yesterday. It is a relationship based on shared history and traditions,' he said.
Suresh further said that his country's commitment to the ASEAN region had begun quite sometime ago, adding that it had been holding dialogues with the association's members since the early 1990s.
'And today, our setting up of an independent mission to ASEAN is a reflection of our commitment to strengthening partnerships with ASEAN and with the people of the association,' he said.
'It is basically aimed at promoting people-to-people relations. It is for the benefit of our people.'
He viewed ASEAN as a very unique association of countries, saying that perhaps it was the only grouping that every major country in the world wished to engage with. (alm)
