'India-ASEAN ties, a win-win situation for both sides'

Bangkok, Sept 20: India's growing partnership with ASEAN is a win-win situation for both sides which together constitute about 1.8 billion people along with a booming market, India's Ambassador to Thailand Anil Wadhwa said here today.

He called for early conclusion of the ASEAN-India Services and Investment Agreements to give a big fillip to the economic engagement.

"A key characteristic of India’s partnership with ASEAN is that it is a complete win-win situation for both sides and is free of any irritant whatsoever. Our strengths lie in the fact that we together constitute 1.8 billion people, a market with resource and demand and a region with complementary capacities and resources," Wadhwa told an India-ASEAN seminar organised by Chulalongkorn University.

The two day seminar themed "Seamless Integration into the Third Decade: Building on two decades of ASEAN-Indian Partnership," is being attended by academics from India, Thailand and other ASEAN nations.

The rapidly growing ties between the ten-member grouping and India has also translated into reality the highway network connecting India to Myanmar and Thailand.

"Under the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway project, India has agreed to undertake repair of 71 bridges on the Tamu-Kalewa Friendship Road and also upgrade the Kalewa-Yargi road segment to highway standard, thereby contributing to the connectivity from Moreh in India to Mae Sot in Thailand. The Indian government has already invested USD 257 million as grant-in-aid on this project," he said.

PTI