Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

ASEAN-India partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity

We, the Heads of State/Government of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia (Cambodia), the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesia), the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao DPR), Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar (Myanmar), the Republic of the Philippines (the Philippines), the Republic of Singapore (Singapore), the Kingdom of Thailand (Thailand) and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (Viet Nam), Member Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (collectively, "ASEAN" or "ASEAN Member Countries", or individually, "ASEAN Member Country"), and the Republic of India (India) gathered in Vientiane, Lao PDR, on 30th November 2004 for the 3rd ASEAN-India Summit;

ADHERING to the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence and other universally recognised principles of international law;

REAFFIRMING our faith in, and respect for, each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, mutual respect and mutual benefit;

BOUND TOGETHER by our shared rich and valuable heritage of civilization, culture, and peaceful economic and social interaction and linkages extending over two millennia as well as by the pluralistic, multi-religious and culturally diverse nature of our respective societies;

NOTING with deep satisfaction that the close cooperative and multifaceted partnership, which our countries have fostered, encompassing the political, security, economic, scientific and technological, human resource development, social, cultural and other areas of mutual interest that provides a solid foundation for taking the ASEAN-India partnership to greater heights and new areas;

DETERMINED to optimally utilize our talented and youthful human and rich natural resources, and more competencies in many state-of-the-art technologies and knowledge-based industries;

CONVINCED that ASEAN-India cooperation serves the essential interests of their peoples and is essential for promoting peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia and the world;

ASPIRING to play a more active role and to meet the political, economic, social and other challenges facing our region in the coming decades, and in helping to shape the world of the 21st century;

RECALLING the Joint Statement issued after the 1st ASEAN-India Summit Meeting in Phnom Penh in November 2002 and the agreements and understandings reached during the 2nd ASEAN-India Summit Meeting in Bali in October 2003; and

ATTACHING great significance to the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN and India signed in Bali for realizing the full potential of ASEAN-India Regional Trade and Investment Area (RTIA) and economic cooperation.

HEREBY commit ourselves to:

Foster friendship, good neighbourliness, peaceful co-existence and prosperity in the region;

Promote a long term co-operative partnership based on equality, shared ownership and mutual respect which will enable us to impart synergies to our respective strengths and complementarities to achieve our respective long-term national and regional development goals;

Cooperate in a coordinated manner to accelerate and mutually reinforce sustainable growth and development of our economies towards shared prosperity, poverty alleviation and reduction of social disparities, to enable our people to enjoy unhindered access to opportunities for development;

Co-operate in strengthening the UN system, including support for early reforms of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions to make them more democratic and responsive to the priorities of its member states particularly, the developing countries;

Co-operate in other multilateral fora, in particular the WTO, greater equity and greater benefits from globalization for the developing countries;

Jointly address the common challenges to our comprehensive political and economic security, including food, human and energy security;

Cooperate in combating the menace of international terrorism and other transnational crimes such as trafficking in drugs, arms smuggling, human trafficking particularly in women and children, cyber crimes, international economic crimes, environmental crimes, sea piracy and money laundering, through effective institutional linkages and programmes of co-operation giving priority to information exchange and capacity building;

Collaborate in areas of general and complete disarmament, and in the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction under strict and effective international control;

Take full advantage of the geographical contiguity of Southeast Asia and India and synergies the strengths of these two significant economic regions to act as powerful engines of growth;

Give high priority to development of regional infrastructure and road, rail, sea and air transportation links to increase physical connectivity that would facilitate greater movement of goods and people;

Facilitate travel and tourism between ASEAN and India by developing links of tourist centres to enhance synergies of tourism destinations;

Promote co-operation in science and technology, in particular information development and commercialization of new technologies;

Work through both conventional and innovative trade and economic arrangements, and full implementation of the ASEAN-India free trade area by 2011 for ASEAN-5 and India, 2016 for the Philippines and India and by 2011 by India and 2016 by the 4 new ASEAN Members Countries, including the early implementation of the Early Harvest Programme, to achieve freer movement of goods, services, investment, and co-operation in other economic areas;

Reiterate full support for the implementation of the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II, leading to the formation of a more integrated ASEAN Community comprising the ASEAN Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community;

Co-operate to help bridge the development gap among various regions and countries, including through support to the Initiative for ASEAN Integration and sub-regional growth areas in ASEAN, and cooperation schemes between ASEAN Member Countries and India;

Promote co-operation in human resource development, through capacity building, strengthening of institutions, training and entrepreneurship development focusing on small and medium enterprises;

Promote people-to-people exchange involving, among others, parliamentarians, youth, artists, sportspersons and representatives from business, industry, media, academic and think-tank institutions; and

Preserve our cultural heritage, and promote cultural co-operation for better understanding and friendship among our peoples.

INSTITUTIONAL AND FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION:

To realize the objectives of the ASEAN-India Partnership, the following measures will be taken:

ASEAN and India will implement specific activities and projects as contained in the attached Plan of Action;

ASEAN and India will strengthen the existing funding mechanisms, including the ASEAN-India Co-operation Fund, for effective co-operation and implementation of the ASEAN-India Partnership and Plan of Action;

ASEAN and India are committed to providing requisite resources and in accordance with their respective capacities, including mutually exploring effective and innovative external resource mobilization efforts, to accomplish the various strategies and measures outlined in the Plan of Action;

The progress made in the implementation of the ASEAN-India Partnership and the Plan of Action will be reviewed by the Senior Officials and the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and India under the ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations; and

The Plan of Action will be reviewed periodically taking into consideration the dynamic developments in the region and the world.

Signed in Vientiane, Lao PDR this Thirtieth Day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Four in two originals in the English language.