Ians (India)
NEW DELHI - Hours after their meeting in the Indian capital, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will Tuesday head separately to Thailand to attend Asia’s top security forum that will be dominated by terrorism, the North Korean nuclear issue and the global financial crisis.
Clinton leaves Delhi for the Thai island resort Phuket Tuesday morning, followed by Krishna a few hours later.
Krishna’s presence at the post-ministerial meeting of the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 27-nation ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) underlines India’s growing stakes in the economically vibrant East Asian region that boasts an annual output of $1.1 trillion and represents more than half the world’s population.
Krishna is likely to meet the foreign ministers of China, Japan and Australia, among others, on the sidelines of the security meet.
India and ASEAN have finalised a free trade area agreement (FTA) in goods, scheduled to be implemented from Jan 1, 2010. Discussions on agreements in investment and services will start soon. The FTA seeks to eliminate tariffs on over 4,000 products, which include items ranging from chemicals to electronics.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei.
Clinton’s participation in the conference will be watched closely as it marks the return of the US to the resource-rich East Asia region, where Beijing and Washington are vying for influence.
New Delhi is a dialogue partner at the ASEAN and participates in the ASEAN summit and the extended 16-nation East Asia summit that also comprises China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand besides the 10 ASEAN nations.
Founded in 1994, the ARF comprises 27 countries, including the 10 ASEAN member states, the 10 ASEAN Dialogue Partners (Australia, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States), and other countries in the Asia and Pacific region (North Korea, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea).
Clinton leaves Delhi for the Thai island resort Phuket Tuesday morning, followed by Krishna a few hours later.
Krishna’s presence at the post-ministerial meeting of the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 27-nation ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) underlines India’s growing stakes in the economically vibrant East Asian region that boasts an annual output of $1.1 trillion and represents more than half the world’s population.
Krishna is likely to meet the foreign ministers of China, Japan and Australia, among others, on the sidelines of the security meet.
India and ASEAN have finalised a free trade area agreement (FTA) in goods, scheduled to be implemented from Jan 1, 2010. Discussions on agreements in investment and services will start soon. The FTA seeks to eliminate tariffs on over 4,000 products, which include items ranging from chemicals to electronics.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei.
Clinton’s participation in the conference will be watched closely as it marks the return of the US to the resource-rich East Asia region, where Beijing and Washington are vying for influence.
New Delhi is a dialogue partner at the ASEAN and participates in the ASEAN summit and the extended 16-nation East Asia summit that also comprises China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand besides the 10 ASEAN nations.
Founded in 1994, the ARF comprises 27 countries, including the 10 ASEAN member states, the 10 ASEAN Dialogue Partners (Australia, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States), and other countries in the Asia and Pacific region (North Korea, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea).
1 comment:
mrs. clinton, please tell thailand to respect cambodia!
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