3rd ASEAN Digital Ministers (ADGMIN) meeting

In News

• The 3rd ASEAN Digital Ministers (ADGMIN) meeting with India was held recently on a virtual platform.

About

• ASEAN Digital Ministers (ADGMIN) meeting is an annual meeting of telecom ministers of 10 ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries and dialogue partner countries.
• The 3rd ministers meeting approved the India-ASEAN Digital Work Plan 2023 which aims at capacity building and knowledge sharing in Information and Communication Technologies(ICT) areas such as Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Security, Application of IoT & AI in Next Generation Smart City & Society 5.0, etc.
• The ongoing and proposed projects in ICTs will strengthen collaboration between India and ASEAN by leveraging complementary strengths of each other.

ASEAN

• It is an Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was established in 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok declaration.
• Presently ASEAN comprises 10 member states namely  Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam along with founding members of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• It aims for intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia.
• Significance of ASEAN:
  • Convergence on Indo-Pacific: Engagement with ASEAN has been a critical element of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and ‘Indo-Pacific’ initiative.
  • Connectivity with NE: The connectivity projects with ASEAN countries like KALADAN Multi Modal Project  keep Northeast India at the center, ensuring the economic growth of the northeastern states.
  • Countering China: Improved ties with the ASEAN nations would act as a counter to China’s presence in the region.

Source: IE