Hon’ble Minister for External Affairs, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister for Communications, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my honour to propose the vote of thanks on the conclusion of the formal part of the Ministerial Session of the eighth edition of the Delhi Dialogue.

We are very grateful that in her keynote address, the Hon’ble Minister for External Affairs, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, has mapped how India envisages a deeper, wider and more multifaceted relationship with ASEAN, with which India shares a common civilizational space.

We welcome and appreciate the presence of the many ASEAN dignitaries with us this evening. Some amongst them had an arduous itinerary because of the ASEAN-U.S. Summit held in California in the preceding two days.

The Delhi Dialogue has evolved into a composite and productive annual forum over the past seven years for discussing key strategic and economic issues between ASEAN and India. That the Dialogue has grown in importance is shown by robust participation this year by diverse stakeholders.

We began yesterday with a meeting of the captains of business and industry and their associations – a meeting that stretched the whole day – for the first time in eight years. We heard from Dr. Jyotsana Suri how productive that meeting was. Today, we heard from ASEAN dignitaries and the Chief Ministers from Nagaland and Mizoram. Tomorrow, practitioners, public personalities, and academicians will explore, more fully, the new paradigm of ASEAN-India relations. They will consider ways to impart momentum to these relations as we approach the silver jubilee of ASEAN-India relations next year. ASEAN is the fulcrum of India’s ‘Act East’ policy, and the keystone of a new security architecture of Asia.

The core focus this year has been on deepening economic linkages throughout the region. Our exchanges have been constrained in the past by connectivity gaps, and the absence of value chains. Implementation of the agreed Plan of Action for the ASEAN-India partnership for peace, progress, and shared prosperity over the next five years should help us overcome these constraints. India is committed to working creatively on all aspects of connectivity with our ASEAN partners – commercial exchanges and investments, transportation, information and communications technology, energy, and people-to-people contacts, beginning with our north-eastern states.

It is my pleasant duty to record our deepest appreciation to:

• H.E. Dr. Sofyan A Djalil, Minister for National Development Planning of Indonesia
• H.E. Mr. U Tin Oo Lwin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar
• H.E. Somchith Inthamith, Vice Minister of Industry and Commerce, Laos
• H.E. Mr. Le Hoai Trung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam
• H.E. Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
• H.E. Mr. Vikram Nair, Chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore
• H.E. Mr. Kan Pharidh, Under Secretary of State, Cambodia
• H.E. Mr. Claro S Cristobal, Director General of Foreign Service Institute of the Philippines
• H.E. Mr. Datuk Naimun Ashakli Mohammad, High Commissioner of Malaysia to India
• H.E. Mr. Dato Paduka Sidek Ali, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam
• H.E. Dr. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary General of Community and Corporate Affairs, ASEAN Secretariat
• Her Excellency Mrs. M. A. Teresita C. Daza, Ambassador of Philippines to India

Continuing with the tradition of the previous Delhi Dialogue forums, we have the unique privilege of having amongst us two of the leaders of India’s north-eastern states:

• Hon’ble Chief Minister of Nagaland, Mr. T. R. Zeliang
• Hon’ble Chief Minister of Mizoram, Mr. Lal Thanhawla

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Anil Wadhwa, Joint Secretary (ASEAN), Ms. Pooja Kapur, and their team.

I would also like to thank our partner and associate institutions –

• Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), New Delhi
• ASEAN-India Centre at RIS (AIC), New Delhi
• Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta
• Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), Singapore
• Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia
• Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), Thailand
• SAEA Group Research, Singapore
• Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), Hanoi
• Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), New Delhi
• All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Mumbai
• Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), New Delhi
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi
• Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata, and
• Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi

They have all contributed to this dialogue in myriad ways.

Tomorrow, on 19th February, IDSA is hosting the academic session of the Delhi Dialogue at the Institute from 9 in the morning.

We feel privileged in inviting you to join in this session as well.

At the end, I would like to express our gratitude to all of you, once again, for your participation in the Delhi Dialogue, and for the investment you are making in promoting closer relations between ASEAN and India. It has been a pleasure to have you with us.

Thank you all very much.

Namaste and good evening.