Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 15
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar sounded the alarm about Chinese expansionism a day before the 10-nation ASEAN signed a free trade pact with China and four other countries, while India stood by.
Jaishankar participated for India in the East Asia Summit, the main ASEAN event where he coordinates policies with six regional partners and two extra-regional actors, the United States and Russia.
Delhi can join anytime
- The pact will create the largest free trade zone in Asia and will be Japan’s first FTA framework with China
- Other countries will be banned from joining RCEP for some time, but India will be able to participate whenever it wishes.
The impact of not signing the RCEP has been heavy and the Indian side tried to suggest that ASEAN has kept an open window for negotiations. But an ASEAN statement a couple of months ago rejected India’s suggestion to start talks immediately.
Speaking at the virtual summit, Jaishankar expressed concern about actions and incidents in the South China Sea that erode trust in the region. He also said that the Code of Conduct negotiations in the South China Sea should not be detrimental to the legitimate interests of third parties and should be fully consistent with UNCLOS.
Jaishankar also underscored the need for greater international cooperation in the post-Covid world to address challenges that cross national borders, such as terrorism, climate change and the pandemic, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA). .
The East Asia Summit consists of 10 ASEAN countries and eight countries in three rungs: China, Japan and South Korea; India, New Zealand and Australia; and the United States and Russia. The Regional Economic Cooperation Association (RCEP) was signed on Sunday by all regional players except India. The United States and Russia were not invited.
The pact will create the largest free trade zone in Asia and will be Japan’s first FTA framework with China. Other countries will be banned from joining RCEP for some time, but India will be able to participate whenever it wishes.
Like Jaishankar, US officials reaffirmed their support for a free and open Indo-Pacific, while underscoring their latest Indo-Japanese economic initiative with five ASEAN members on the periphery of India: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand. and Vietnam.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stressed the partnership with these five countries on the lower banks of the Mekong River.
The summit was chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in his capacity as President of ASEAN.
The summit discussed ways to strengthen the EAS platform and make it more responsive to emerging challenges. Topics such as the South China Sea, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and Rakhine state were discussed. In addition to the Ha Noi Declaration, the summit also adopted statements from four other leaders on marine sustainability; prevention and response to epidemics; women, peace and security and constant growth of the regional economy, said the MEA statement.
