Asians invite India, Pakistan to join ASEM

HELSINKI: Asian leaders on Sunday invited India, Mongolia and Pakistan to join future gatherings of ASEM, the only forum dedicated to dialogue between Europe and Asia, Japanese officials said.

The invitation came as leaders and top officials from 38 Asian and European nations began two days of talks on trade and security issues in the capital of Finland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"Asian leaders agreed to propose the accession of three countries -- India, Mongolia, and Pakistan -- to the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) to their European counterparts here," a Japanese official said.

The addition of the three Asian countries will lessen the imbalance in the forum, where the European Union's 25 members outweigh the 13 Asian countries currently in the club.

The EU will grow to 27 member states next year if Bulgaria and Romania join the bloc as scheduled.

ASEM is widely seen as being long on talk and short on substance and is still trying to prove its relevance despite having 10 years of existence behind it.