Bali (Indonesia), Oct 08: Forging a new dimension to its ties, India today joined the ten-nation Asean security pact as the two sides signed a declaration to combat international terrorism and agreed on comprehensive economic cooperation to step up their current trade turnover of 12 billion US dollars.
India's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) was signed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and heads of state or government of the Asean countries at the second India-Asean summit here.
Significantly, China, which like India is a dialogue partner of the grouping, also joined the 1976 treaty, under which members pledge respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, non-interference in the internal affairs of one another and peaceful settlement of intra-regional disputes.
The treaty was amended in 1998 to allow countries outside Asean to accede to it with the consent of all the 10 member nations -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mayanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The joint declaration on terrorism initialled by External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Asean foreign ministers envisages exchange of information, cooperation in legal matters, free cooperation in enforcement matters, institutional capacity building and training to combat the scourge. Bureau Report