On the 16th and 17th of June, India will host the foreign ministers of ASEAN nations to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its relations with the 10-nation grouping.
Myanmar’s participation in the ASEAN-India foreign ministers’ meeting would be based on the grouping’s regulations, according to External Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Arindam Bagchi, implying that the country’s foreign minister will not be in New Delhi.
Following Myanmar’s military takeover last year, ASEAN’s attitude on engaging the nation in multilateral forums has been that it should be done on a non-political level.
The meeting would be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Singaporean colleague Vivian Balakrishnan, he added. Singapore’s foreign minister serves as India’s ASEAN country coordinator (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
The SAIF will be attended by foreign ministers from other ASEAN member nations as well as the ASEAN secretary-general, according to Bagchi. The year 2022 has been declared as the year of friendship between ASEAN and India.
When asked about Myanmar’s involvement, Bagchi stated that it will be by ASEAN guidelines. According to reports, India is unlikely to invite Myanmar’s foreign minister to the conference and would instead send an official.
Myanmar’s military took control in a coup on February 1 last year and declared a state of emergency after arresting Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD). Following the coup, the country was rocked by enormous protests. The coup has been roundly condemned by the international world.
In 1992, ASEAN and India established sectoral cooperation, which progressed to a comprehensive dialogue relationship in December 1995, a Summit level partnership in 2002, and a strategic partnership in 2012. “The strategic alliance between ASEAN and India now has a solid base. The ASEAN lies at the heart of India’s Act East Policy and its Indo-Pacific vision “Bagchi said.
While the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) is held annually by the ASEAN Chair, the SAIFMM will be the first ASEAN-India FMM held in New Delhi. On June 15, the SAIFMM will be preceded by the 24th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting.
On June 16-17, the SAIFMM will be followed by the 12th edition of the Delhi Dialogue, a major Track 1.5 Dialogue on the ASEAN-India calendar, which will be hosted by India.
