Leaders of ASEAN countries and India came together on 24 October 2009 to discuss present and future state of relations in the 7th ASEAN-India Summit held in the coastal town of Cha-am. During the Meeting, the Leaders touched on cooperation in various areas — ranging from trade and investment, infrastructure connectivity, tourism, science and technology, food security, agriculture and forestry, education, HRD, health care and traditional medicine, disaster management and climate change, to political and security cooperation, including combating terrorism (exchange of information and security of the sea lanes).
On economic cooperation, the Leaders welcomed the signing of the Agreement on Trade in Goods between ASEAN and India in August 2009 and hoped that it would be implemented by January 2010. They entrusted officials to work further on the services and investment areas. They would also intensify discussions on an open sky policy.
Noting that ASEAN-India trade had grown at a healthy rate despite the economic slowdown, reaching USD 48 billion in 2008 and being well on the way to achieving the target of USD 50 billion by 2010, they agreed to set a higher target of USD 70 billion trade value, to be achieved in two years. They also noted that the ASEAN-India Business Council would be reactivated.
On disaster management, India proposed to develop a programme on disaster management. India also offered to share satellite data on areas affected by natural disasters.
India proposed an India-ASEAN roundtable comprising representatives from think tanks, academic institutions, media and business sectors to bridge the knowledge gap and discuss future areas of cooperation. It also proposed to implement larger youth exchange programmes and more exchanges of visits among parliamentarians.
India expressed its readiness to support ASEAN in the realization of its work programme for 2009-2015 in areas such as education, energy, agriculture, forestry and SMEs; ASEAN's effort to realize the ASEAN ICT master plan 2010-2015; and the creation of an e-network in ASEAN that can be linked with selected Indian institutions in diverse areas. In this regard, India has contributed USD 50 million under the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund and ASEAN Development Fund. It was also proposed that an ASEAN-India climate change network be established.
India proposed that in view of the 10th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India Summit and the 20th Anniversary of India's status as ASEAN's sectoral dialogue partner, both sides should start preparations to commemorate such important occasions. It proposed the organizing of a commemorative sea expedition in 2011-12. It also proposed to host the ASEAN-India Summit in India in 2012 and that a task force be set up to prepare a Vision Statement for ASEAN-India relations leading up to 2020.
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