New Delhi. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand organised Sixth Round Table of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT) through video conference from August 20-21.
The ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at the Research and Information System for Development Countries (RIS) and ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok were the organizing partners of the Round Table. The theme of the Round Table was ‘ASEAN-India: Strengthening Partnership in the Post COVID Era’.
The Round Table was jointly inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Thailand Don Pramudwinai on August 20. ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi also addressed the inaugural session. SOM Leaders/ their representatives from all 10 ASEAN Member States were also present in the Session.
The Round Table had five thematic sessions spread over two days namely, Changing Landscape of Global Order and ASEAN-India relations in the post Covid-19 Era; Emerging Value Chains: Opportunities for ASEAN and India in the post Covid-19 Era; New Normal and Significance of 4IR on ASEAN-India Partnership and Future Collaborations; ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI): Complementarities and Cooperation; and Way Forward.
Each Session saw presentation of research papers by four to five panelists from prominent think-tanks, universities, institutes both from India and ASEAN, followed by Q&A.
More than 400 people from academia, industry, government and diplomatic community attended the Round Table.
The ASEAN-India Round Table comprising think tanks, policy makers, scholars, media and business representatives was established at the Seventh ASEAN-India Summit in Thailand in 2009 to provide policy inputs to Governments on future direction of cooperation. The forum serves as a high quality research platform and provides long-term perspectives to further strengthen ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.
