Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: A very good afternoon to all of you for this weekly media briefing. I see a large turnout, always nice. So, before we begin with the queries, I have an announcement to make. This is regarding the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that we will host in New Delhi next week. We will issue a formal press release after this. India will host the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SAIFMM) on 16th-17th June to mark the 30th anniversary of our dialogue relations, and the 10th anniversary of our Strategic Partnership with ASEAN. EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar and His Excellency Mr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Foreign Minister of Singapore who is India's country coordinator in ASEAN will co-chair the meeting. Foreign Ministers of other ASEAN member states and ASEAN Secretary General will participate in the SAIFMM. As you are aware, the year 2022 has been designated as the ASEAN- India friendship year.

Just a little background - ASEAN-India dialogue relations started with the establishment of sectoral Partnerships in 1992, graduated to full dialogue partnership in December 1995, summit level partnership in 2002 and of course upgraded to Strategic Partnership in 2012. Today ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership stands on a strong foundation. ASEAN is central to India's ‘Act- East Policy’ and its vision for the wider Indo- Pacific. This multifaceted partnership encompasses many sectoral dialogue mechanisms and working groups that meet regularly at various levels, including annual summits, ministerial and senior official meetings. And also, as you are aware, the ongoing India-ASEAN collaboration is guided by the plan of action for five years, 2021 to 2025, which was adopted in 2020. Now, of course, ASEAN- India Foreign Ministers’ Meetings are hosted by the ASEAN Chair on an annual basis, but this SAIFMM will be the first or would be the first ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be hosted by India in New Delhi. It will be preceded by the 24th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting which will be held on the 15th of this month, next week. This meeting will be accompanied by the 12th edition of the Delhi Dialogue, a premier track 1.5 dialogue in the ASEAN-India calendar. This will be hosted by India on June 16th and 17th. The theme of Delhi Dialogue-XII is Building bridges in the Indo-Pacific and the ministerial session of this Delhi Dialogue-XII will be attended by External Affairs Minister as well as the ASEAN Ministers. So that's I think the only announcement that I have got. Happy to open the floor for questions.