Vientiane/New Delhi, July 26 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in Laos for ASEAN meetings, on Friday met with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, and Retno Marsudi, the foreign minister of Indonesia, on the sidelines.
In posts on X, the EAM wrote about his various bilateral meetings.
On his meeting with Borrell, he thanked the EU foreign policy chief for his friendship and staunch support for strengthening India-EU ties.
“Delighted to meet EU HRVP @JosepBorrellF, this time in Vientiane.
“Spoke of India-EU potential to augment partnership in trade, clean energy transition and advanced technologies. Exchanged perspectives on regional and global issues.
“Thank HRVP Borrell for his friendship and staunch support for strengthening India-EU ties.”
On his meeting with the Singapore Foreign Minister, he posted that the two sides spoke about creating a new agenda for the bilateral ties.
“Great conversation with dear friend FM @VivianBala of Singapore.
“Thank Singapore for steering ASEAN-India relations in the last three years as Country Coordinator.
“We spoke about creating a new agenda for our bilateral ties. Also appreciated his thoughts on current geopolitical situation. “
EAM congratulated the Indonesian Foreign Minister and said her contribution towards India-Indonesia and India-ASEAN relations are notable.
“Always good to see my friend FM @Menlu_RI
“Congratulated her on a great stint as Foreign Minister. Her contribution towards India-Indonesia and India-ASEAN relations are notable. Enjoyed working with her during our G20 Presidencies.”
According to media reports from Indonesia, the Foreign Minister pushed for bolstering food and maritime cooperation at the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
“We learn from our experience, especially during the pandemic, after the pandemic, and also due to the war, this food security issue is still a big challenge for all of us, for the world and also for the region,” Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said, according to her statement .
Last year, during Indonesia’s chairmanship, ASEAN and India agreed on the Joint Leaders’ Statement on Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Response to Crises.
Marsudi expressed the hope that ASEAN and India will jointly implement cooperation to strengthen food security in response to conflict.
In the maritime sector, the minister said, maintaining maritime peace and stability is a common goal of ASEAN and India.
“We all certainly want this maritime domain to be an arena for cooperation, and not an arena for confrontation,” she stressed.
Indonesia has pushed for the concrete implementation of the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Maritime Cooperation agreed upon last year in Jakarta, especially in the areas of blue economy development, maritime connectivity, and sustainable maritime energy resource development.
In terms of cooperation between ASEAN and countries in the Indian Ocean Rim (IORA), Marsudi submitted a proposal to translate ASEAN-IORA cooperation into an action plan.
She asked India, as an important and respected member of IORA, to support the strengthening of cooperation between ASEAN and IORA.
