Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's opening statement to the media at the end of his visit to Malaysia

"You have been briefed regularly about the many meetings that I have had while in Kuala Lumpur. In summing up my visit to Kuala Lumpur, I think it would be accurate to say it gave me a very valuable opportunity to engage with ASEAN leaders on the direction of our partnership which is growing increasingly closer, and to have bilateral interactions with an even larger number of leaders.

In our view the present level of India-ASEAN co-operation is a realization of a policy choice we made almost a decade-and-a-half ago when we embarked upon our Look East policy. It was our belief at that stage that there was potential for mutually beneficial interaction which had not even been recognised, leave alone utilized. I am happy to say that the situation is quite the opposite now; both sides are very conscious of the potential and there is a healthy impatience at the pace at which we are able to utilize it. It is a fact that the impatience is a little more pronounced on the ASEAN side; my counterparts have expressed themselves that it would be better if we were able to move faster. I in turn took this opportunity to reassure them - in the India-ASEAN Summit and in my many bilateral meetings - that the important aspect to bear in mind is that our direction is correct and the intent to move towards closer economic integration is there. The pace at which we move has to take account of our democratic processes and the wide variety of views we have to reflect in our economic policy-making. I believe that the ASEAN leaders understand this reality and are keener on co-operation across an expanding canvas.

At the India-ASEAN Summit I put forward a series of proposals that are predicated on using Indian capabilities in areas such as satellite connectivity and English-language teaching, which had an excellent response. In fact, our ASEAN partners suggested extending such project-based co-operation to related areas such a bio-technology, which we have agreed to take on board. A significant suggestion made to me was increased interaction on regional security issues. Specific mention was made of increased co-operation in counter terrorism and maritime security. Both of these are of great interest to us; we are co-operating on these issues on a bilateral basis with some ASEAN members already and arrangements to broaden these should be devised.

As you are aware, there were extensive comments on the India-ASEAN FTA, on which negotiations are continuing. The ASEAN members have expressed concerns about size of the negative list proposed by India. I have noted their concern and told them that this issue would be resolved in a mutually satisfactory manner. In any case we shall keep to the schedule for the FTA to come into effect by January 01, 2007. My ASEAN counterparts also expressed their interest in an ASEAN-India open skies arrangement; we shall be examining how this can be operationalised. I have described all these aspects to illustrate the increasingly broader sweep of our ties with ASEAN.

Earlier today we met in the 1st East Asia Summit. The significance and potential of this grouping is almost self-evident. Its composition, its evolving agenda and format give it the potential to play a major role in global affairs. India's presence in this group from its very outset is an opportunity that we value. This is clearly a good work in progress. The Malaysian Prime Minister in his opening remarks said that this group represents a desire for engagement and not containment. I was happy to associate myself with this sentiment. In an evolving global balance, East Asia carries ever-increasing weight; India's participation adds to its significance.

While in Kuala Lumpur I also had several bilateral meetings. My first call was on Prime Minister Badawi, where we reviewed both our bilateral ties and our expectations from the ASEAN and East Asian Summits. I met the Prime Minister of Vietnam and we reviewed the potential for carrying forward our co-operation in areas such as hydrocarbons and defence. We shall also try to respond to Vietnam's interests in bilateral co-operation in high technology areas such as biotechnology. I had an extensive review of our co-operation with Japan in my meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi. We decided to work to upgrade our relationship both quantitatively and qualitatively. The Prime Minister of Japan emphasised the importance of co-operation on a global scale on existing and emerging issues; these include possibilities in infrastructure, co-operation in disaster management and our on-going participation in the G-4 group. I thanked Prime Minister Koizumi for Japan's support for India's entry into ITER and shared with him my belief that Japan is key to India's Look East policy. I also thanked the President of Korea for supporting India's entry into ITER and flagged to him the importance of Korean support for the removal of NSG restrictions that affect India. In my meeting with the Prime Minister of Myanmar we reviewed the status of progress on various cross border projects. Our interest in co-operation in the hydrocarbon sector was also reiterated. Shortly before leaving I also met Premier Wen Jiabao of China. We reviewed developments since Premier Wen's landmark visit to India in April and agreed to work together to ensure that the momentum in our relationship is maintained. Our work on the boundary question will carry on; our Special Representatives will meet early. Our bilateral trade is increasing rapidly, as we had hoped for and we await the recommendations of the Joint Study Group to upgrade our economic and commercial ties in a befitting manner.

In sum, I feel, this has been a productive and useful visit.