5th ASEAN-India Business Summit 2023

Current Context: The 5th ASEAN-India Business Summit was held on 6 March 2023 in Kuala Lumpur. The theme of the summit was "Strengthening and Moving Forward ASEAN-India Economic Relations for a Strategic Business Partnership". The summit was part of the ASEAN-India Year of Friendship to commemorate more than three-decade long engagement between India and the 10-member bloc

• One of the main outcomes of the summit was that India and ASEAN elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. This means that they will advance cooperation in various areas, such as maritime security, trade and investment, digital economy, connectivity, health and education
• Another outcome was that 10 companies from ASEAN and India signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to collaborate on inclusive business models. These are businesses that provide goods, services or livelihood opportunities to low-income communities while being commercially viable.

The partnership aims to enhance cooperation in various areas, such as:

• Maritime security, including maritime domain awareness, countering piracy, search and rescue operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster management
• Connectivity, including implementing the ASEAN-India Plan of Action for Transport Cooperation 2021-2030, enhancing air connectivity through open skies agreements, promoting multimodal transport linkages such as India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway
• Health, including strengthening cooperation on COVID-19 response and recovery, enhancing vaccine production and distribution capacity, promoting traditional medicine systems such as Ayurveda
• Education, including expanding scholarships for ASEAN students under Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, enhancing academic exchanges between universities and think tanks

Question:

Q.1 What was the theme of the 5th ASEAN-India Business Summit 2023?
a. Strengthening and Moving Forward ASEAN-India Economic Relations for a Strategic Business Partnership 

b. Enhancing ASEAN-India Connectivity for a Resilient and Sustainable Future 

c. Building Trust and Confidence for a Prosperous ASEAN-India Partnership 

d. Leveraging Digital Technologies for a Smart and Inclusive ASEAN-India Community