India has called for peace and stability in Asia and urged the nations to thwart terrorist activities in their respective lands. Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Nay Pyi Daw, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday urged the member nations to give priority to peace and stability in the region. She said, the region was facing lots of problems among which terrorism was the biggest issue and it has to be dealt collectively. The deteriorating situation in Gaza due to Israel-Hamas conflict which has already resulted in more than 1500 lives was discussed widely in the summit. The Foreign Minister said, India was in favour of resolving the conflict through dialogue. Voicing her concerns for Afghanistan, Ms Swaraj said, in the year of government change in the country, it was important for the international community to support the rebuilding process which the nation is going through. Towards the end of her speech, she reiterated India's stand on South China Sea dispute. She said, the navigation and access to resources should be done according to 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS and hoped that the dispute would be peacefully resolved in accordance with the guidelines of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, New Zealand yesterday sought to promote business and people-to-people ties with India by using the platform of the Cricket World Cup to be hosted by it along with Australia next year. In a meeting with Mrs Swaraj on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum talks, her New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully conveyed to her that his country wanted to seize the opportunity of enhancing ties with India by using linkages of cricket. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, both the leaders also discussed various issues relating to bilateral ties. The MEA spokesperson said, the New Zealand side expressed excitement in enhancing cooperation with India. He said, a number of countries during their meetings conveyed the feeling that this is the moment they can do lot of economic engagements as they were encouraged by pro-active measures of the new Indian government. Yesterday, Swaraj also met acting foreign minister of Thailand, Sihasak Phuangketkeow during which the possibility of having an early meeting of the Joint Commission between India and Thailand was discussed. Swaraj also had separate bilateral meetings yesterday with her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se. She yesterday had held separate bilateral meetings with her counterparts from seven countries including China, Australia, Canada, Vietnam and Indonesia.