Vietnam to lead ASEAN New Delhi Committee in 2023, take batons from Thailand
As a Chair of ANDC in 2022, the 30th anniversary year of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations, Thailand organized a series of events during the year to boost India-ASEAN bilateral ties.
NEW DELHI: Vietnam is all set to assume the Chair of ASEAN New Delhi Committee (ANDC) in 2023, and take batons from Thailand. In its new role, Vietnam is planning to organize a series of events to strengthen bilateral relations between India and ASEAN member states throughout the year.
Ms. Pattarat Hongtong, Ambassador of Thailand to India said that Thailand as a Chair of the ANDC in the year 2022 organized a series of events to introduce art & culture of ASEAN. “And the ASEAN – INDIA Bazaar, which was organized by ASEAN New Delhi Committee (ANDC) in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi on Saturday in the premises of Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi, 14th January 2023 was the last event in that series in our capacity as ANDC Chair. We would hand over the Chair to Vietnam in 2023 to take it further,” the Ambassador added.
The ASEAN – INDIA Bazaar witnessed huge participation of the people from all ASEAM member states as well as Indians who enjoyed a wide variety of food and also got to know about each-other’s culture. The countries like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, India (Ministry of Tribal Affairs) set up their stalls at the Thailand embassy premises to showcase their products as well as elaborate variety of food and beverages.
Ms. Geetika Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Indo-Pacific), Ministry of External Affairs, also participated in the event. In her address, she said that The ties between India and the 10-nation grouping (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) saw a significant surge in the last few years, especially in 2022 when both sides celebrated 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue relations.
Puneet Singh Chhatwal, Vice President, North Region, Indian Chamber of International Businesses (ICIB) also visited the ASEAN – INDIA Bazaar, and facilitated Ambassadors and high commissioner of the participating ASEAN states including Thailand on this occasion.
Marked with several high level visits followed by a high level dialogue framework, this year 2022, embarked as ‘ASEAN-India Friendship Year’, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of their ASEAN-India Dialogue relations.
The significant surge in ties can also be attributed to increased commodity trade between India and the ASEAN region, which stands around 98.39 billion in the period April 2021- February 2022. India’s main trading ties are with Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand ie, 5 out of the 10 ASEAN member states (>$10b).
