Pranab seeks to push further India's 'Look East' policy

---

BANGKOK, Sept 16 (PTI): With an aim of pushing India's 'Look East' policy, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday asked the heads of missions in the region to work for promoting further the strategic engagement with South East Asian countries, particularly in security, trade and economic fields.
On a three-day visit here, Mukherjee chaired a day-long conference of heads of missions of South East Asian and Pacific countries, outlining the priorities and challenges before the diplomacy in its endeavour to promote India's interests.
He underlined the need for intensification of partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other regional groupings and promotion of Indian economic environment to encourage export of its goods and services.
Promotion of inter-regional integration and utilisation of regional trade arrangements for investment was also stressed by the minister as he noted India's increasing engagement with groupings like ASEAN, Mekong Ganga and BIMSTEC.
Mukherjee also emphasised the need for increasing cooperation in disaster management with these countries.
Mukherjee, who arrived here Thursday, earlier said that adoption of 'Look East' policy by India in 1991 had marked a "strategic shift in our perspective of the world.
Noting that the international order has seen a "profound structural transformation", Mukherjee said in view of that India's foreign policy has had to "reformulate its priorities.
A significant aspect of this cooperation with east Asian countries, both bilaterally and through multi-lateral institutions like ASEAN Regional Forum, has been the growing collaboration on security issues fostered through practical measures, he said.
This cooperation focuses on areas like maritime security and counter-terrorism which are of vital interest to security of states as well as commerce through sea lanes in the region, Mukherjee said.
Referring to India-ASEAN trade relations, he expressed hope that a breakthrough on Free Trade Agreement would emerge in the coming months.
Stating that FTA lies at the heart of the engagement with ASEAN, he acknowledged that the negotiating process on it has proved to be difficult.
The challenge has been to harmonise positions of two partners who are both willing but have different characteristics, the external affairs minister said.
There have been some positive developments in the recent meetings of senior officials and there are now proposals on the table that provide the possibility of concluding the negotiations at an early date.
"The time has come for us to be pragmatic and find an outcome that is a win-win for both sides," Mukherjee said.