1. Vice President Dhankhar calls for free and open Indo-Pacific region at the 17th East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh
Tags: place in news Summits Person in news
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar speaking at the 17th East Asia Summit meeting being held in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on 13 November 2022 highlighted India’s concern on food and security and emphasized the role of the East Asia Summit (EAS) in promoting free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific with freedom of navigation and overflight.
The 17th EAS is being hosted by the current ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations) chairman Cambodia.
Earlier speaking in the summit the American President Joe Biden and the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also highlighted the aggressive behaviour of China in the South China Sea and called for peace in the Taiwan Strait and ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also called upon the EAS members’ full contribution to the International Year of Millets in 2023.
Vice President visit to Cambodia
The Vice President was on a three day (11-13 November) visit to Cambodia to attend the 19th India-ASEAN summit meeting which has been designated as the commemorative summit, to mark the 30 years of Indian ASEAN relationship.
This year is also being celebrated as ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is accompanying Vice-President Dhankhar on this visit.
Observer Research Foundation signs Mou with AVI
On the sideline of the summit meeting Observer Research Foundation (ORF) of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a leading Cambodian think tank AVI.
The two institutions engaged in the realm of public policy will endeavour to cooperate more closely to enhance their mutual understanding on a range of issues from geopolitics and international relations to sustainable development and cultural engagement.
East Asia Summit
- The East Asia summit group consists of 18 countries.
- The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by the then Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.
- It was set up in 2005 as a forum to promote strategic dialogue and cooperation on political, security and economic issues of common regional concern in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Initially it consisted of ASEAN members (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam) and China, Japan ,South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
- The United States of America and Russia were included in 2011.
2. India announces additional contribution of ‘$ 5 million’ to ASEAN-India science and technology fund
Tags: Science and Technology Summits International News
The Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on 12 November 2022 announced an additional contribution of USD 5 million to the ASEAN-India Science and Technology Fund (AISTDF) to enhance cooperation in sectors of public health, renewable energy and smart agriculture.
The announcement came during the three-day visit of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to Cambodia for ASEAN-India and East Asia summits.
ASEAN India S&T Development Fund (AISTDF)
ASEAN-India Science & Technology Collaboration formally started in 1996 with the establishment of the ASEAN India S&T working group (AIWGST).
Initially, the collaborative S&T projects and activities between India and ASEAN were supported through ASEAN India Fund (AIF).
In 2008, a dedicated ASEAN India S&T Development Fund (AISTDF) with an equivalent amount of USD 1 million was established jointly by the Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Science and Technology (DST) to support Research and Development projects and associated project development activities.
The AISTDF was enhanced to an equivalent amount of USD 5 million through an announcement by the Prime Minister of India on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India Summit in Malaysia in November 2015.
3. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to lead India at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in Cambodia
Tags: Summits Person in news
According to the Ministry of External Affairs press release issued on 7 November 2022 the Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar will visit Cambodia from the 11t-13th of November 2022 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit. The Vice President will be accompanied by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.
During his three day official visit, the Vice President will attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in Phnom Penh on 12th November 2022.
He will also participate in the 17th East Asia Summit on 13th November 2022.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations and is being celebrated as the ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
He will also have bilateral engagements with the Cambodian leadership and leaders from other countries.
India -ASEAN meeting
As per the Look East foreign policy of the Narasimha Rao government in 90s, the government of India focussed on increasing trade and investment with East Asia with special focus on ASEAN.
Evolution of India -ASEAN relationship
India was initially made a sectoral partner by ASEAN in 1992. With the increasing depth in the relationships the status was changed to a Dialogue Partner in 1996.
In 2022 the relationship was further upgraded to Summit level
And finally in 2012 it was elevated to Strategic partnership.
Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)
It was set up in 1967 as a group of South-East Asian nations.
At present there are 10 members in the group. They are
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The headquarters of ASEAN: Jakarta, Indonesia.
East Asia Summit
The East Asia Summit is a regional forum set up by ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations) with Regional powers of the Asia-Pacific region including United States and Russia to further cooperation on strategic and economic cooperation in the region.
The EAS has 18 member countries. It includes all the 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.
Whichever ASEAN country is the chairman of ASEAN hosts the EAS related meeting in its country. Currently Cambodia is the chairman of ASEAN.
