ASEAN-India summit: PM Modi calls for rules-based post-Covid world order

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for building a rules-based post-COVID world order and strengthening the voice of the Global South.

In an address at the annual ASEAN-India summit in Jakarta, the prime minister also underlined the need for ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners.

India supports the ASEAN outlook on Indo-Pacific, Modi told the leaders of the grouping. The prime minister described ASEAN as the epicentre of growth, saying it plays a crucial role in global development.

PM Modi congratulated Indonesian President Joko Widodo for organising the summit and said, “Our partnership has reached the fourth decade. It is an honour for me to co-chair this summit. I want to congratulate Indonesian President Joko Widodo for organising this summit.” Calling ASEAN an epicentre of growth, Modi said that the bloc plays a crucial role in global development.

“The 21st century is Asia’s century. It is a century of all of us, he said. It will be mutually beneficial for all of us to develop a rules-based post-Covid world order as well as efforts by all (Sabka Prayas) for human welfare,” Modi said.

He said there has been consistent progress in “our mutual cooperation” in spite of the atmosphere of global uncertainty. ASEAN is the central pillar of India’s Act East policy, he added.

The prime minister also noted that the ASEAN-India partnership has entered its fourth decade. ASEAN occupies a prominent place in India’s Indo-Pacific initiative, he said.

(With agency inputs)