ASEAN is important to India's Act East policy: MEA

New Delhi [India], Jan 25 (ANI): Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East) Preeti Saran on Thursday underscored Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to all the ten leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries shows that the partnership is important to India's Act East Policy.

"The fact that the Prime Minister has invited the ASEAN leaders shows that ASEAN is important to our Act East Policy, but, the acceptance of the invitation and the presence of all ten of them is historic and unprecedented. Their [all the ten leaders] presence means so much to us", she said.

India is hosting a two-day India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit, which is expected to give a boost to the cooperation in key areas of counter-terrorism, security and connectivity.

Saran, during the media briefing ahead of the plenary session of the summit, also informed that the Prime Minister has had six bilateral meetings with the ASEAN Leaders by far.

"PM has had six bilateral meetings with the ASEAN leaders so far and he used this opportunity to convey his deepest appreciation to the leaders he met bilaterally", she said.

The ASEAN leaders will attend the summit that marks 25 years of Indo-ASEAN ties.

In the run-up to the summit, various programmes in different areas, ranging from culture to trade, have been organised by India.

(ANI)