“So that we do not have any disruption due to terror activities. Terror knows no borders, colours, gender and religion, and therefore, it is for us to ensure that we bring prosperity to our region by keeping this out of our region,” he said at the fifth India-ASEAN economic forum here organised by ASSOCHAM.
Referring to the upcoming silver jubilee of India’s ties with the grouping, Singh said something better was going to happen due to the “structural engineering” of the economy by the BJP government. Holding peace as an imperative for any business or commerce to function, Singh said the menace of terrorism was a “challenge” that India and ASEAN “need to look at seriously”.
India has a free trade agreement with ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations), a 10-nation bloc, whose members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam.
Singh also underlined the importance of North-East, describing it as a gateway to the ASEAN countries. He said India has gone beyond ‘Look East’ and the focus was now on ‘Act East’.