9th ASEAN-India meet on transnational crimes

Tags: International News

The 9th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crimes was held in a virtual mode on 20 July. 

Important facts

• Both sides strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms, stressing the need to promote international cooperation to combat terrorism and transnational crimes.

• The consultation was co-chaired by Joint Secretary (Counter Terrorism), Ministry of External Affairs Government of India, Mahaveer Singhvi, from the Indian side. 

• Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore Government, Puah Kok Keong co-chaired the Consultation from the ASEAN side.

• Both sides stressed the need to strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism and transnational crimes in a comprehensive and sustained manner.

• They discussed ways to enhance cooperation in the areas of terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, trafficking in persons, transnational economic crimes and cybercrime within the framework of the ASEAN-India Action Plan to combat transnational crimes.

• Institutional linkages and capacity building programs between the two sides were also discussed.

• The 10th ASEAN-India SOMTC Consultation on International Crimes will be held in Indonesia in 2023.

ASEAN-India dialogue

• It was initiated in 1992 with the establishment of the Regional Partnership, which evolved into a Full Dialogue in December 1995, a Summit-level Partnership in 2002, and a Strategic Partnership in 2012.

• At present, the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership stands on a strong foundation.

• ASEAN is central to India's Act East Policy and the Comprehensive Indo-Pacific Strategy.

• This multi-faceted partnership includes several regional dialogue mechanisms and working groups that meet regularly at various levels and include annual summits, ministerial and senior officials' meetings.

• Ongoing India-ASEAN cooperation is guided by the 2021-2025 Action Plan that was adopted in 2020.

About ASEAN

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN is an international organisation formed in Bangkok,Thailand in 1967.

• It promotes economic development, peace, security, social progress and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region.

• ASEAN Secretariat – Indonesia, Jakarta.

• General Secretary of ASEAN - Lim Jock Hoi, Brunei

• Official Languages - Burmese, Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese

• Working Language -  English

• ASEAN Summit is the supreme policy making body of ASEAN. 

• ASEAN is third largest market in the world 

• It is the sixth largest economy in the world, third in Asia.

• ASEAN has Free-trade agreements (FTAs) with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

ASEAN Member Countries

• Indonesia

• Malaysia

• Philippines

• Singapore

• Thailand

• Brunei

• Vietnam

• Laos

• Myanmar

• Cambodia