ASEAN major hub for India's global economic engagement-Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Thursday said India’s ties with the ASEAN are rooted in history, geography and culture. Speaking at the inaugural session of the India ASEAN Business Summit, Dr Jaishankar said there is no doubt that the ASEAN is one of the major hubs for India’s global economic engagement. He said the COVID pandemic has brought four areas into sharp focus for international business cooperation. These are resilient and reliable supply chains, health security, digital for development and green and sustainable recovery.

The Minister pointed out that COVID has brought out many inadequacies in the global health system. He said meaningful partnerships, sharing of advanced technologies, collaboration in vaccine and pharmaceutical production, capacity building and transparency in health information are all part of the answers. Dr Jaishankar said health has emerged as a more serious priority for all societies and business must recognize the ensuing opportunities. He said India has succeeded in developing the world’s first DNA vaccine for COVID-19 and global collaborations have enabled India to emerge as a major vaccine production centre for the world. He added that Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing stepped up to the challenge by ramping up production for medicines that were in great demand.