Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs attended #EastAsiaSummit
New Delhi. Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, Jaideep Mazumdar represented India at the East Asia Summit Senior Officials Meeting (EAS SOM) and ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting (ARF SOM) in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 7-8 June. During this, he emphasized the importance of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
Yash Saini 
The EAS SOM was chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister of Lao PDR, Thongphen Savannaphet. 18 EAS participating countries (10 ASEAN Member States and 8 dialogue partners of ASEAN namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, ROK, Russia and the United States) and counterparts from Timor-Leste participated in the EAS SOM.
The main issues discussed included strengthening of the Leaders-led EAS forum, implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), and regional and international issues such as the situation in the South China Sea, Gaza, Korean Peninsula, Myanmar and Ukraine, the MEA said in a statement. In his address, the Secretary (East) emphasised the important role played by the EAS as the key mechanism for promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Majumdar shared India's concern about threats posed by terrorism and called for collective action in this regard. He met Japanese envoy Hayashi Makoto, who is Japan's Ambassador-in-Charge of the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) leader and cooperation with ASEAN, on the sidelines of the meeting. They discussed matters of cooperation between India and Japan under bilateral and regional frameworks.
According to the ministry, earlier the Secretary (East) also met Cambodia's Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and SOM leader Ambassador Kung Phok during which the two leaders discussed ways to improve relations between the two countries and work together more effectively within the ASEAN framework. Majumdar held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Vietnam, Australia, Philippines and the European Union during which bilateral cooperation was reviewed and views on the region were shared.
(Report. Shashwat Tiwari)
