Indian Prime Minister was speaking at the Shangri La Dialogue held in Singapore on 1 June 2018. He said India is advancing a comprehensive agenda of regional cooperation through Indian Ocean Rim Association and ASEAN. India's partnership beyond East and South East Asia are strong and growing. India is helping build economic capability and improve maritime security and promote collective security through forums like Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. It is working with partners beyond the Indian Ocean region to ensure that the global transit routes remain peaceful and free for all.
Prime Minister Modi said that in Indo-Pacific Region, India's growing engagement is accompanied by deeper economic and defence cooperation. Indian Armed Forces, especially Navy, are building a partnership in the Indo-Pacific Region for peace and security as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Southeast Asia is at its centre, and, ASEAN has been and will be central to its future.
It was emphasized that India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members. Prime Minister Modi said inclusiveness, openness and ASEAN centrality and unity lie at the heart of the new Indo-Pacific. He stressed that India’s own engagement in the Indo-Pacific - from the shores of Africa to that of the Americas - will be inclusive. India’s vision of the Indopacific involves physical connectivity as well as mutual trust, transparency, consultations and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Prime Minister Modi said India will promote a democratic and rules-based international order, in which all nations, small and large, thrive as equal and sovereign. He said: “We will work with others to keep its seas, space and airways free and open; our nations secure from terrorism, and our cyberspace free from disruption and conflict. We will keep our economy open and our engagement transparent. We will share our resources, markets and prosperity with our friends and partners. We will seek a sustainable future for our planet, as through the new International Solar Alliance together with France and other partners.
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