External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar extended warm greetings to ASEAN member states on the occasion of the 59th ASEAN Day, reaffirming India’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with the regional bloc.

He emphasised that the relationship continues to deepen across multiple domains, including connectivity, trade, digital linkages, resilient supply chains, defence, education, and cultural exchanges, all guided by India’s Act East Policy.

In his message on X, Jaishankar expressed confidence that India-ASEAN ties will continue to grow in both substance and ambition, contributing significantly to peace, stability, and prosperity across the wider Indo-Pacific region. His remarks followed the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference with India 2026, held in Manila in July, where both sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.

Meanwhile, ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn officiated the 59th ASEAN Day celebrations in Jakarta at the ASEAN Headquarters. He highlighted three milestones marking this year’s commemoration: Timor-Leste’s accession as ASEAN’s 11th Member State, the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and the first year of implementation of ASEAN Vision 2045. The celebrations were held under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together.”

The event featured pre-recorded remarks by Philippine President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr, while Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono delivered an ASEAN Day address. In New Delhi, the centuries-old Qutub Minar was illuminated in ASEAN’s colours, marking the first-ever projection of ASEAN’s cherished symbols onto a major national monument anywhere in the world.

The illumination was accompanied by the ASEAN anthem and attended by over 80 diplomats from ASEAN missions, alongside regular visitors to the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Philippine Embassy in India, holding the rotating chairmanship of the ASEAN New Delhi Committee, conceptualised and organised the event. The Embassy noted that ASEAN, founded in 1967 by five nations, now brings together all 11 Southeast Asian countries, with a combined population exceeding 700 million and a GDP of over USD 4 trillion, ranking as the world’s fifth largest economy if taken as a unit.

Singapore’s High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, also marked ASEAN Day by celebrating the illumination of the ASEAN flag on the Qutub Minar. Sharing images of the event, he underscored the close partnership between ASEAN member states and India, thanking the Philippines for its leadership in organising the commemoration.

India and ASEAN first established sectoral dialogue relations in 1992, which were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. Under this framework, cooperation spans trade and investment, tourism, connectivity, agriculture, energy, culture, technology, education, and people-to-people exchanges.

The 59th ASEAN Day celebrations thus symbolised not only ASEAN’s achievements but also the enduring and expanding partnership between India and the regional bloc.

ANI