Asean roundtable in Singapore: EAM stresses need for resilient supply chains, trusted partners

At the roundtable themed on ‘Navigating a World in Transition: Agenda for ASEAN-India Cooperation’, he said, “Collaboration can also be crucial in addressing contemporary challenges."

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Friday. (PTI)

Highlighting the ongoing transition and conflicts in the world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Friday stressed the need for having resilient supply chains, trusted partners and diversified production.

Addressing the ASEAN-India Network of Think-Tanks in Singapore, he said, “India and ASEAN are major demographies whose emerging demands can not only support each other, but become larger productive forces in the international economy.”

At the roundtable themed on ‘Navigating a World in Transition: Agenda for ASEAN-India Cooperation’, he said, “Collaboration can also be crucial in addressing contemporary challenges. In an era of extreme climate events, ensuring food security is a major concern. Similarly, with the experience of global pandemics, preparing for health security is no less vital.”

Noting that the world is headed for “re-globalisation, not de-globalisation” in the wake of several challenges, Jaishankar mentioned several ongoing conflicts that have necessitated that. “A conflict in Ukraine has shaken Eurasia out of its strategic complacency. West Asia/Middle

East is seeing long standing issues and fissures exploding beyond expectations,” he said. Without naming China, Jaishankar said, “In our own continent, territorial disputes and challenges to international law have become a significant recurring source of instability.”

He said that the world has responded in different ways to different challenges in different geographies. “In our own, the emergence of the Indo-Pacific and the maturing of the Quad are noteworthy for promoting global good,” he said.

Jaishankar said there are, and there will be political challenges in the shared region like Myanmar that India and ASEAN will have to address together. “A prime example today is the situation in Myanmar. The interest and I dare say perspective of those who are proximate… is always difficult,” he said. “We do not have the luxury of distance or indeed of time. This is increasingly the case of HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) situations as well and also maritime safety and security,” he stressed.

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He called for a stronger culture of self-help which will only arrive by “putting our heads and our time together”. “Bilateral and trilateral engagements have contributed to our closeness,” he said, citing the example of Mekong Ganga cooperation and Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand growth triangle.

Divya A

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More

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