00:00Right over left. Right over left.
00:05Electronics and Information Technology India.
00:08Your Excellency Co-Chair and EEM colleagues,
00:11the timing of our meeting could not be more significant.
00:14The global trade landscape is shifting rapidly,
00:18presenting us with both opportunities and challenges.
00:22And in the midst of this strategic rebalancing,
00:25closer economic integration between ASEAN and India
00:28can serve as a stable anchor of growth
00:31and a vital source of resilience amid global uncertainties.
00:36Indeed, we face common challenges,
00:38from safeguarding supply chain resilience and food security
00:41to navigating technological disruptions.
00:45By working together, we can transform these challenges
00:47into shared opportunities for sustainable and inclusive growth.
00:51I am pleased to note that ASEAN-India trade and investment ties
00:54have grown from strength to strength,
00:56and a key pillar of our economic relations
00:58has been the ASEAN-India trade and goods agreement,
01:02which we signed in 2009 and brought into force in 2010.
01:06This agreement laid the foundation for a significant growth
01:09in trade that we have witnessed.
01:11However, a decade on, the world has changed,
01:14and so must our agreement.
01:16The ongoing review of ITIGA is a strategic opportunity
01:20to modernise and upgrade our economic partnership
01:23from the realities of today and tomorrow.
01:26We recall that our leaders have mandated us
01:28to expedite the review of ITIGA
01:30to be substantially concluded in 2025.
01:34In line with their target,
01:35ASEAN sees the review exercise
01:37as a chance to incorporate lessons learned
01:39over the past 13 years
01:41and to upgrade our agreement
01:43with provisions that address current trade practices.
01:46It also means aligning the ITIGA with initiatives
01:50such as the ASEAN Economic Integration Efforts
01:52and India's Act East policy
01:54so that our trade agreement
01:56complements broader regional supply chain connectivity.
02:00I look forward to our discourse
02:01on the ITIGA review progress today,
02:04and as we deliberate today,
02:06let us keep in mind the broader strategic imperative
02:08of a stronger ASEAN-India economic partnership
02:11that contributes not only to our prosperity,
02:14but also to regional stability and development.
02:17A closer integration between us
02:19sends a message to the world
02:20that our region believes in openness,
02:23fairness, and mutual benefit in trade.
02:26I look forward to productive discussions
02:28that will bring us closer to our shared goals
02:30as friends, as partners,
02:32towards a more prosperous future
02:33for all our nations.
02:35And the Indo-Pacific vision,
02:38the synergy between ASEAN outlook
02:40on the Indo-Pacific
02:42and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative
02:45augurs well for the region.
02:48Prime Minister Naren Modi
02:49has attended 11 ASEAN-India summits so far
02:53at the last ASEAN-India summit last year in Venetian.
02:57Prime Minister Sri Naren Modi said,
02:59and I quote,
03:00the 21st century is the Haitian century,
03:04a century for India and ASEAN countries,
03:07unquote.
03:08Together, we can make that a reality.
03:11India and ASEAN share civilized bonds.
03:14Our partnership is thriving
03:16on strong people-to-people linkages.
03:18The priority India attaches to ASEAN-led
03:21mechanisms is reflected
03:23as increasingly practical cooperation
03:26across political security,
03:28economic and social-cultural domains.
03:31With the support of our ASEAN partners,
03:33we have achieved 100% implementation
03:35of the ASEAN-India plan of action
03:372021-25.
03:40Based on the direction from leaders
03:42at the previous ASEAN-India summit,
03:45a new ASEAN-India plan of action
03:472026-2030
03:49was adopted to advance our cooperation further.
03:52Excellencies,
03:55ASEAN and India are neighbors,
03:58partners in the global south,
04:00and both represent rapidly growing regions
04:02of the world.
04:03Our aspiration is to achieve a bright future
04:06for more than 2 billion people.
04:10India's vision of a vixit Bharat
04:11or a developed India
04:12by the century of its independence
04:16of 2047
04:17and the recently adopted
04:20ASEAN community vision 2045
04:22is a reflection of the same spirit.
04:26On the trade front,
04:27India remains seriously concerned
04:30with the limited progress
04:31in the review of the ASEAN-India
04:33trade and goods agreement.
04:35Despite our consistent follow-ups,
04:38I will take this up in greater detail
04:41when the agenda item is discussed.
