India reaffirms importance of Asian Economic Community

Manila, July 31 (UNI) India today reaffirmed the importance of Asian Economic Community stretching from the Himalayas to the Pacific which would be an 'arc of advantage' and facilitate free-flow of people, ideas, trade and investment across the region.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is here to attend the East Asian Foreign Ministers's Meeting, said India was ready to cooperate and contribute in ways that can impart substantive content to the East Asia Summit (EAS).

He said that while India looked forward to cooperating with other countries of the region to synergise strengths, it would also expect that the EAS would help work towards the vision of an Asian Economic Community ''that would stretch from the Himalayas to the Pacific, linked by efficient road, rail, air and shipping services.'' ''Such a community would constitute an arc of advantage across which there would be large-scale movement of people, capital, ideas and creativity,'' he said.

The External Affairs Minister who arrived here yesterday to participate in the East Asian Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), said the current levels of cooperation within the EAS countries were immense.

Regarding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposal at Cebu EAS in January, about revival of the Nalanda University, Mr Mukherjee said a Nalanda Mentor Group had already been appointed under the chairmanship of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. The group held it first meeting in Singapore on July 13-14.

''The Nalanda University project will reinforce the soft linkages between India and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region,'' he added.

The External Affairs Minister also announced India's propopsal to hold the EAS Meeting on Disaster Management in New Delhi in November.

He said India looked forward to participation by EAS countries at the Asian conference on Avian Influenza likely to be held in New Delhi this year.

''We hope that the renewed interest in Asia's Buddhist heritage will re-kindle ancient links between East and South Asia and help us come closer together,'' Mr Mukherjee said.

The External Affairs Minister also met his counterparts from Australia, Lao PDR and Malaysia on the sidelines of the EAS meeting.

UNI