Southeast Asia at heart of India’s ‘Look East policy’, says Sushma

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia lies at the heart of India’s ‘look east policy’ and New Delhi is working towards strengthening its connections with the region, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday.

She was speaking at the regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, an event held to mark the overseas Indian community’s contribution towards the country’s development, in Singapore. “We have growing political, economic, defence and cultural relations with each southeast Asian country, and growing connectivity has reinforced our proximity. Today, 16 Indian cities are connected to Singapore, a trilateral highway linking India with Thailand is in progress, and we plan to expand this further to connect with other Asean countries,” Swaraj said. While Swaraj was upbeat about ties between the two regions, she also dwelt on the common responsibilities they faced in the current scenario. These, according to her, include challenges such as creating skills for the digital age, employment generation, coping with rapid urbanisation, protecting biodiversity and pooling knowledge for productive agriculture.

Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, in his address, said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership between the Asean grouping and six of its key partners (including India) can potentially establish the world’s largest trade bloc.

Balakrishnan said there was a need to build more bridges, not walls. “Asean is poised for strong growth, driven by increasing consumption, an emerging middle class and a population of 633 million... Economic integration is not a mere mantra; it is crucial for the mutual prosperity of India and Asean,” Balakrishnan said.