India supports Indonesia's chairship of East Asia summit, says EAM Jaishankar

EAM Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday called on Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and expressed India's support to the country's chairship of the East Asia summit, reported PTI.

Jaishankar conveyed the personal greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Widodo.

"Honored to meet President @jokowi. Conveyed the personal greetings of PM @narendramodi. India supports Indonesia's chairship of the East Asia summit," he tweeted.

Jaishankar also spoke at the 13th East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers Meeting here and noted that the regional forum must be committed to a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific, with respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"India firmly supports the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and its implementation through EAS. There is great synergy between the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) proposed by India and AOIP," he said.

"Quad will always complement ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms. AOIP contributes to the vision of the Quad. India affirms ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific and advocates the strengthening of the EAS," he said.

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.
The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.

China and its diplomats have been attacking the Indo-Pacific concept from the beginning claiming that it is aimed at containing Beijing.

Beijing has also been attacking the Quad grouping, saying building small cliques and stoking bloc confrontation is the real threat to a peaceful, stable and cooperative maritime order. The Quad comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia.

After Jakarta, Jaishankar will travel to Bangkok to participate in the 12th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Mechanism on Sunday.
In Bangkok, Jaishankar will also attend the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers' Retreat on July 17. BIMSTEC is an economic and technical initiative which brings together the countries of the Bay of Bengal for multifaceted cooperation.

(PTI)