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7TH ASEAN-INDIA MINISTERIAL MEETING - IAS Academy in Coimbatore

Oct 28, 2022

7TH ASEAN-INDIA MINISTERIAL MEETING

Why in News?

Recently, the 7th ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting (AIMMAF) on Agriculture and Forestry was held virtually.

  • It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation.
  • It was established in August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
  • Its chairmanship rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.
  • ASEAN countries have a total population of 650 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 2.8 trillion.
  • Commodity trade between India and ASEAN region has reached 98.39 billion in the period April 2021- February 2022.India’s main trading ties are with Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Members:

ASEAN brings together ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation.

Highlights of the Meeting

  • India’s Vision of keeping ASEAN: India reiterated its vision of keeping Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the center of India's Act East Policy. It also emphasized mutually close regional cooperation with ASEAN to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth for agricultural development in the region.
  • Steps towards Millets Production:  Referring to the importance of millet (nutritional-cereals) as a nutritious food and the international nutritional-cereal year 2023, India urged the ASEAN member countries to support the efforts of India in increasing the production, processing, value addition and consumption of millets. India will promote nutritious cereal products for the health and nutrition of the people. Nutritious cereals help in the creation of nutrients with low resource requirements and more efficient agri-food systems.
  • Implementation of Various Programs: The progress in implementation of various programs and activities under the Medium Term Action Plan of ASEAN-India Cooperation (Year 2021-2025) was reviewed.
  • Cooperation in Agriculture: The commitment to ASEAN-India cooperation in agriculture and forestry was reaffirmed.
  • Covid-19 Pandemic: In order to mitigate the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic by ensuring a seamless flow of safe and nutritious agricultural products to ASEAN and India, it is necessary to take continuous measures under ASEAN-India cooperation for the implementation of post-pandemic recovery. India ensured the commitment to enhance India's cooperation with ASEAN in food security, nutrition, climate change adaptation, digital farming, nature-friendly agriculture, food processing, value chain, agricultural marketing and capacity building.