ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is committed towards forging closer ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), fostering bilateral trade and most importantly people-to-people contact.

This was pointed out by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.

Ms Khar had joined the Asean Committee in Islamabad (ACI) which comprises of seven resident diplomatic missions of member states Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to celebrate Asean Day and commemorate the 55th anniversary of the formation of the regional cooperation group. The ceremony, held at Serena Hotel, began with the hoisting of the Asean flag followed by a performance of its anthem.

During her keynote speech, Ms Khar highlighted the central role of Asean in the region and its relationship with Pakistan.

“No goals are bigger and better than peace and prosperity for the people of the region,” she said, adding that Asean had made a remarkable journey, transforming into an integrated and vibrant economic community, forging dialogue and cooperation. She said Asean provided a blue print for regional peace and cooperation.

The event began with members of the committee expressing sympathy and condolences over the loss of more than 1,000 lives resulting from the unprecedented floods in Sindh and Balochistan recently, and with the hope that people would soon overcome these natural catastrophes.

In his speech, the current chairman of ACI, Ambassador of Vietnam Nguyen Tien Phong, reviewed the process of Asean’s establishment, development and achievements during the last 55 years and also its pillars and priorities to stay strong and important contributions towards peace, security, stability and prosperity of Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, Indo-Pacific and the world at large.

“Its achievements have constituted a strong foundation for Asean to fulfill the Asean Vision 2025 and further advance an Asean community of solidarity, resilience and responsiveness. Asean has remained true to its mission and goal. It has, therefore, brought into play its important roles in promoting dialogue, cooperation and confidence-building between the countries within and beyond the region with a view to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region,” he said.

Mr Phong also said all member countries stood as one to give priority to cooperation in the areas of disaster relief, terrorism and transnational crime combat, maritime security, defence, peacekeeping, counter-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and disarmament.

They attached importance to dialogue, goodwill cooperation and responsible contribution for the common goal of peace, security, stability and development in promoting peace and stability through trust-building measures and preventive diplomacy, maintaining a nuclear-weapons-free Southeast Asia, inclusive processes for preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution, he said.

“Asean and all of its partners in general and Pakistan in particular have many things in common like culture, dressing, cuisines and religions. Pakistan is a very important part in the process of development and spreading of Buddhism. We share the values of unity in diversity, integrations and connectivity for developments and we strongly believe that we will share and move forward together,” he said.

Participants of the event were informed that Asean had long-standing cooperation with Pakistan. Pakistan was accorded the sectoral dialogue status of Asean at the 26th Asean Ministerial Meeting in July 1993. In July 2004, Pakistan acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and admitted as the 24th participant of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF).

They were also informed that Pakistan’s trade with Asean had reached almost $11 billion in fiscal year 2022. Asean and Pakistan have undertaken cooperation in trade, industry and investment, science and technology, drugs and narcotics, environment, tourism, and human resources development.

The event concluded with cultural performances from the embassies of Indonesia and Thailand and martial arts demonstrations from a Pakistani team.

Guests were treated to delicacies such as Thai beef rending, Malaysian chicken satay and spaghetti goring, besides Chinese braised bok chay garlic and Indonesian chicken adobo.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2022