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National

India to participate in Asia-Europe dialogue

Sandeep Dikshit

ASEM to balance relationship between three engines of growth
Climate change, strengthening of multilateral trade system on agenda

NEW DELHI: With the Commonwealth Games to open around the same time, Vice President Hamid Ansari will represent India at the Eighth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit beginning in Brussels from Monday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had attended the previous ASEM summit in Beijing two years ago, which was the first for India.

Beginning as a dialogue forum between the European Union\European Commission and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEM broadened into a stage for interaction between Europe and Asia by including six countries from the North East and South Asia, of which India is one.

Of the 16 Asian states, some such as Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines are not being represented by their heads of government\state. The Prime Ministers of Japan and China are slated to attend while Pakistan will be represented by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

This summit, like the previous one, will see the addition of more members — Australia, New Zealand and Russia — to provide representation to the Asia Pacific and Eurasia. This will be the first international outing for recently elected Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Exclusive dialogue

Briefing newspersons here on Friday, Secretary (East) Latha Reddy underlined the importance of the meeting by pointing out that this was the only forum for exclusive dialogue between Asia and Europe. “The rationale [for setting up ASEM] is to balance the relationship between the three engines of growth. The United States and Europe have strong transatlantic links while the U.S. talks to Asia through the Asia Pacific Economic Community. This was the missing link.”

The main theme of the meeting will be the international economic and financial crisis.

It will also discuss climate change and ways to strengthen the multilateral trade system. The meeting will be chaired by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.

On Monday, the leaders will address “priority number one” — moving towards more effective global financial and economic governance. A separate declaration — “towards more effective global economic governance” — is expected to be adopted at the end of the summit, said Ms. Reddy. The other important subject — advancing on the path of sustainable development — will be addressed during their second session on the second day.

Global issues

During the third session, the leaders will discuss global issues of great concern to their populations. These include the fight against terrorism and organised crime, the elimination of piracy at sea and reversal of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of their delivery systems.

Leaders will also exchange views on the regional cooperation mechanisms and integration efforts that take place in their respective parts of the Eurasian continent. They will also discuss developments and security issues, of concern to ASEM partners such as Iran, Afghanistan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Myanmar, and the Middle East peace process.

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