Jakarta decks up for ASEAN-India, PM Modi scheduled to depart today

JAKARTA: Jakarta is set for the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to depart from Delhi today. The Prime Minister will be in Jakarta at the invitation of the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo.

Both the ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit (EAS) will take place on September 7 (Thursday).

Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN, made adjustments to the schedule for both summits to facilitate PM Modi’s early return as his visit to Indonesia comes ahead of the G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10 under India's Presidency this year. Indonesia is part of the G20 'troika' as it had the presidency of the grouping last year.

The forthcoming ASEAN-India Summit will be the first Summit since the elevation of ties between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations bloc of countries to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. The foreign ministry said that the the Summit will review the progress of India-ASEAN relations and chart the future direction of cooperation.

This year the ASEAN Summit will be chaired by Indonesia under the theme "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth." This theme indicates that Indonesia expects the ASEAN to be relevant and significant as the centre of economic growth.

According to a statement, the East Asia Summit would provide an opportunity for leaders of ASEAN countries and its eight dialogue partners, including India, to exchange views on issues of regional and global significance. In August, ASEAN-India Economic Ministers met in Indonesia and the main agenda of this year’s meeting was the timely review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) which was signed in 2009.

A joint committee agreed to a regular, quarterly schedule of negotiations, which would conclude the review of the ASEAN-India FTA in 2025.