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Special Address by Secretary (East) at Inaugural Session of Delhi Dialogue IX, 4 July 2017

July 04, 2017

Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister for External Affairs,
H.E. Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Republic of Vietnam,
Dr. V.K. Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs
H.E. Kyaw Tint Swe, Union Minister, Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor, Republic of the Union of Myanmar,
H.E. Dr, Maliki Osman, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Republic of Singapore,
H.E. Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand,
H.E. Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Deputy Minister, Negara Brunei Darussalam,
H.E. Sengphet Houngboung Nuang, Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic
H.E Dr Sok Siphana, Advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia
H.E. Hirubalan VP, Deputy Secretary General ASEAN,
Heads of Delegations of ASEAN Countries,
Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam,
Heads of Missions of ASEAN Countries in New Delhi,
Distinguished Dignitaries on the Podium,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,


  • It is my proud privilege and pleasure to welcome you all to the ninth edition of the Delhi Dialogue, hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, in partnership with the Observer Research Foundation and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. I would like to thank them for their steller support in organising this event. Our other partners include Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), ASEAN India Centre at RIS, The Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), Institute of South Asian Studies, SAEA Group Research, Singapore, Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta, ISIS Malaysia and ISIS Thailand.
  • The Delhi Dialogue since its first edition in 2009, has evolved into a useful forum for brainstorming on all aspects of the India ASEAN relationship. Over the years it has contributed towards strengthening our Strategic Partnership.
  • This edition of the dialogue comes at a watershed moment, when we celebrate ASEAN@50 concurrently with the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN India Dialogue partnership. It also comes at a time when the global community is witnessing many changes. Lack of strategic stability, rising trade protectionism, ultra nationalism, non compliance to international laws and agreements, defiance of a rules based approach and increasing intolerance are some of the key issues that is challenging our progressive international order.
  • Our partnership is built on the foundation of strong cultural and civilizational linkages, we have a strong convergence of news and we share common concerns. Over the past 25 years, we have achieved substantial progress in all three pillars of our partnership – politico-security, economic and socoio-cultural. We share strong institutional linkages and people to people contacts. There is much to celebrate on completion of 25 years of this relationship.
  • Across the three sessions, Ministerial, Academic and Business, we look forward to some very interesting and thought provoking discussions on the direction and the priorities of our engagement, which would give us focussed inputs towards preparing a roadmap for the future of ASEAN India relations. I am confident that the interactions and exchange of ideas among policy makers and industry leaders will help to give a boost to India’s relationship with ASEAN, both at bilateral as well as multilateral levels.
  • I am extremely grateful to all the distinguished guests, especially the Honourable Ministers from ASEAN countries, MOS MEA and Chief Minister of Assam who are here with us today. Excellencies, we are greatly honoured by your presence. Our special thanks go out to our External Affairs Minister, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, for the constant guidance and the energy with which she has inspired us to move India-ASEAN relations forward. Soon after assuming charge, it was our External Affairs Minister who had, for the first time, articulated our Act East Policy during her official visit to Vietnam in August 2014. She has since steered this policy, monitoring it on a daily basis. This would be the third Delhi Dialogue hosted by our External Affairs Minister. Madam, may I please invite you to kindly deliver the Keynote Address.
Thank You!

 

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