01 June 2004	Tuesday	12 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

NEW DELHI, May 31: India's United Progressive Alliance government will give the highest priority to bilateral relations and work to increase areas of agreement with immediate neighbours, Press Trust of India said on Monday.

It said Foreign Minister Natwar Singh held a meeting on Monday with diplomats from Saarc and Asean countries to assess future policy options. It was agreed that building India's bilateral relations with these countries assumed the "highest priority".

"With our immediate neighbours, we will work to increase areas of agreement and intensify our contacts," a foreign ministry statement said. It said the countries of South East Asia were important to India in political, economic and strategic terms. "We will further strengthen bilateral relations with them, as well as our interaction with ASEAN since it constitutes a major dimension of our foreign policy."