11th ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting held at New Delhi

The 11th ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Foreign Ministers Meeting took place in New Delhi from 11 to 12 November 2013.

This is the first time that India has hosted the biennial ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting since India joined the group in 2007.

The theme of the meeting was "ASEM: Bridge to Partnership for Growth and Development.”

The meeting was attended by 34 Foreign Ministers from Asia and Europe, including the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton and the Secretary General of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Le Luong Minh. 11 countries were represented by Deputy Foreign Ministers.
 
The meeting was chaired by the External Affairs Minister of India, Salman Khurshid.

The issues which were discussed during the meet include economic and financial issues, sustainable development, non-traditional security challenges and regional and global issues. Delegates also assessed the achievements of ASEM in the past 17 years and its future orientation.

In this meet Foreign Ministers agreed to intensify efforts to bring about greater synergy between Asian and European partners of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) across the three pillars of political dialogue, economic cooperation and socio-cultural exchanges.

About ASEM

1.Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was set up in 1996.

2.ASEM represents over half of the global population and accounts for more than half of the global GDP.

3.It held its first summit meeting at Bangkok.

4.It is a forum of 46 Asian and European countries. 27 countries are from the EU and 19 countries are from Asia. India has been participating in ASEM meetings since 2007.

5.ASEM also comprises two international organisations, i.e. the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union, for expanding political and security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation.

6.Outside of the government-level meetings, ASEM also brings together, in individual fora, lawmakers, businesses and civil society groups.

7.In the key achievements of ASEM, the Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN) a ground-breaking research and education network connecting researchers in both continents are included.

8.The 10th ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting held at Godollo, Hungary from 4 to 5 July 2011.

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