Officials of India, ASEAN meet ahead of foreign ministerial dialogue

New Delhi: Top officials of India and the ASEAN nations on Wednesday held extensive talks, a day ahead of their foreign ministerial dialogue that is expected to focus on further expansion of trade and strategic ties as well as boosting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Vietnam's Bui Thanh Son and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn and FM II of Brunei Dato Erywan have already arrived in the national capital for the two-day India-ASEAN talks beginning Thursday.

India is hosting the foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nations to mark the 30th anniversary of its relations with the 10-nation grouping.

Myanmar, a member of the grouping, is set to be represented at the foreign ministers' meeting by a senior official in sync with ASEAN's consensus following the military coup in that country last year that engagement with it should be at the non-political and non-military level.

A senior official of the Myanmarese embassy attended the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) in New Delhi on Wednesday.

It is learnt that the India-ASEAN foreign ministers' dialogue will focus on overall developments in the Indo-Pacific region and ways to further expand ties against the backdrop of geopolitical developments including the crisis in Ukraine.

The foreign ministers are also likely to discuss the situation in the South China Sea, a resource-rich region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese muscle-flexing.

MEA said the top officials reviewed the ASEAN-India strategic partnership and its future direction.