NEW DELHI: For India, ASEAN is the cornerstone of its Act East Policy and India attaches importance to it said External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar on Friday in Lao PDR.“The priority that India attaches to ASEAN and EAS platforms is evident from Prime Minister Modi visiting Jakarta last year on the very eve of our own G20 Summit. He had announced a 12-point plan that has been largely acted upon. For India, ASEAN is the cornerstone of its Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific vision that was thereafter built on it,’’ said Dr Jaishankar in his opening remarks of ASEAN India Foreign Ministers meet.Meanwhile, Dr Jaishankar met many of his counterparts on the sidelines of the meet which included Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers.“We continued our ongoing discussions about our bilateral relationship and agreed on the need to give strong guidance to complete the disengagement process. There is a must to ensure full respect for the LAC and past agreements,’’ said Dr Jaishankar after meeting Wang Yi in Vientiane on Thursday.Dr Jaishankar also said that it was in India and China’s mutual interest to stabilise ties. “We should approach the immediate issues with a sense of purpose and urgency,’’ Dr Jaishankar added.Wang Yi said that the important impact of China-India relations goes beyond bilateral scope. Improving bilateral relations should reflect the strategic vision of China and India as two major emerging and developing countries. Meanwhile, China has also evinced interest in resuming direct flights between India and China.Dr Jaishankar also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The duo had earlier met during the SCO Summit in Astana earlier this month. Dr Jaishankar also met FM of Norway, Espen Barth Eide, and spoke about the India-Nordic partnership in clean energy and trade. In his interaction with Deputy PM and FM of New Zealand Dr Jaishankar discussed education, agriculture technology, Pacific Islands and Cricket.
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