Jaishankar in Thailand: Focus on 'Act East', Indo-Pacific as EAM meets 10 foreign ministers on day 1

Day one of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's Thailand visit saw a focus on 'Act East' policy and Indo-Pacific concept as he met 10 of his counterparts. 

Jaishankar, who is on a 2-day visit to Bangkok, spoke at the ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting and called the grouping a "critical element of India's Act East policy and strategy". "Acting east is also implementing our Indo-Pacific outlook and its the logical extrapolation," he said.

India's "Act East" policy that evolved from the "Look East" policy calls for greater engagement with ASEAN countries. 

Talking about connectivity with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), EAM said, "India seeks greater connectedness with the ASEAN region. We envision connectivity with the region in very broad terms including physical, economic and political connectivity and close contact at people to people level."

"The historic, cultural, economic political that have existed between India and ASEAN region are the stepping stones to achieve the vision of a more connected India and ASEAN region and a closer partnership," he added. 

The ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting which was co-chaired by Jaishankar and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai also reviewed progress on implementation of decisions taken during the 25th Anniversary ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit held in New Delhi on January 25, 2018. 

Indo-Pacific concept is expected to dominate conversations in Bangkok as Delhi and Washington are both keen on it and ASEAN has also issued its outlook on it.

"I was heartened to see ASEAN recently released its outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which also supports sovereignty, transparency, good governance, a rules-based order, among many other things," US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said during his opening remarks at US-ASEAN Ministerial.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken aboutIndo-pacific concept last year at Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore and this year in Maldivian parliament, saying that said India's vision is an inclusive one. 

The EAM also participated in 10th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Ministerial Meeting and met 10 of his counterparts on the sidelines of the ASEAN plus gathering. These were Thai FM Don Pramudwinai, New Zealand FM Winston Peters, EU's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Japan FM Taro Kono, Filipino Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr, Indonesian FM Retno Marsudi, British FS Dominic Raab, Singapore's FM Vivian Balakrishnan, Foreign Minister of Australia Marise Payne and Chinese FM Wang Yi. 

The EAM will visit China later this month for a preparatory visit for the 2nd India-China informal summit that will take place by the end of this year. 

On day 2 of his visit, Jaishankar will be participating at the 9th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (EAS FMM) and 26th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)