Opening the plenary on Tuesday morning, Singapore premier Lee Hsein Loong said the ASEAN leaders will strive to prevent the Myanmar issue "from obstructing efforts to deepen integration and build an ASEAN Community" after the grouping abruptly withdrew an invitation to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to address the summit following Yangaon's objection.
Had India agreed to join the trade pact, Indian markets would have been flooded with cheap Chinese products.
He stressed that reform for him was just a way station on the long journey to the destination and the destination is the transformation of India.
As India seeks to deepen its engagement with the 10-nation bloc of small and medium economies, Modi said both India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are keen to enhance their cooperation in advancing balance, peace and stability in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that the world community must reject any linkage between religion and terrorism while formulating a "genuinely international" partnership in the fight against all forms of terror acts.
Giving a fresh impetus to its ties with ASEAN, India today said it would soon draft a five-year action plan starting 2016 for enhancing connectivity and cooperation in diverse areas and hoped the long-delayed free trade pact on services and investment will be signed later this month.
Trade between India and Indonesia stands at $20 billion.
Seeking deepening of ties with ASEAN, India on Saturday said it would soon draft a five-year plan of action starting 2016 to take the "trajectories" of common interests with the 10-member grouping to a new level and particularly emphasised on improving connectivity in the region to further boost trade and people-to-people contact.
Eyeing greater cooperation with South East Asian countries on economic and security issues, India on Thursday announced a separate Mission for ASEAN region to be set up in Jakarta with a full-time resident Ambassador.
Following is the full text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the Central Party School in Beijing on Thursday:
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