By Mohamed Nasir Yusoff, NNN-Bernama,
Jakarta : Seven countries among the Dialogue Partners of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) have appointed ambassadors to the regional grouping, with the latest being India, whose envoy is Neelakantan Ravi.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, in welcoming Ravi’s appointment, said in a statement here Wednesday that Asean had enjoyed a close partnership with India since 1995 when New Delhi progressed from being a sectoral dialogue partner to become a full dialogue partner.
“I believe N. Ravi’s appointment will further enhance the Asean-India strategic partnership that has since spanned the political and security, economic and social dimensions,” he added.
In the economic realm, both parties have recently concluded negotiations on the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement and have started negotiations on the Trade in Services and Investment Agreements.
Ravi, who previously served as India’s ambassador to Vietnam, is concurrently the Secretary (East) in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Asean’s other Dialogue Partners which have already appointed their ambassadors to the 10-nation grouping are the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and China.