Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on October 28 called on India to continue supporting and actively contributing to ASEAN’s efforts to maintain peace, security, and stability in the East Sea.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends 18th ASEAN - India Summit on October 28 (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Prime
Minister Pham Minh Chinh on October 28 called on India to continue supporting
and actively contributing to ASEAN’s efforts to maintain peace, security, and
stability in the East Sea.
Attending the 18th ASEAN - India Summit via videoconference, the
Vietnamese leader also asked for India’s support for ASEAN endeavors to uphold
international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),
and peacefully settle disputes and differences through dialogue and diplomatic
processes so as to ensure that the East Sea is a sea of peace, cooperation, and
development.
He said ASEAN and India are
long-standing partners and close-knit neighbours who share common interests and
responsibility in contributing to regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
He urged both sides to assist
each other in COVID-19 response and sustainable recovery. He asked India to
actively help ASEAN countries develop the pharmaceutical industry, gain
sufficient and timely access to sources of COVID-19 vaccines and drugs, and
transfer the vaccine and drug production technology.
The PM highlighted the need
for stronger maritime cooperation to guarantee navigation security and safety,
conserve the marine environment and ecology, increase sea rescue, and combat
illegal fishing and piracy.
Indian PM Narendra Modi (centre) and ASEAN leaders at the summit on October 28 (Photo: VNA)
Meanwhile, Indian PM Narendra
Modi underlined that his country treasures the strategic partnership with
ASEAN, which holds a special position in its Act East policy.
India supports ASEAN’s
centrality and pledges to effectively participate in ASEAN-led cooperation and
dialogue mechanisms and uphold international law, promote a rules-based
regional order, actively contributing to peace, security, stability and
development in the region, he noted.
He affirmed the support for
ASEAN’s stance on promoting dialogue and trust building, fully and effectively
implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and
building an efficient and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in the waters that is
in line with international law and the 1982 UNCLOS.
Modi added India welcomes and
support the bloc’s role in fostering dialogue and reconciliation in Myanmar and
helping this country seek solutions to stabilise its situation.
At the summit, participants
highly valued the relations between ASEAN and India, which is the sixth largest
trade partner of ASEAN and ranks seventh among investors in this bloc.
The two sides agreed to continue
assisting each other in pandemic response and stepping up comprehensive
recovery through increasing bilateral trade and investment, consolidating
regional supply chains, facilitating trade and goods flows, helping businesses
access each other’s markets, and fruitfully carrying out the ASEAN - India Free
Trade Area.
Concluding the event, they
adopted an ASEAN - India joint statement on cooperation in implementing the
ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific for peace, stability, and prosperity in the
region./.