National Statement delivered by EAM Dr. S Jaishankar at the 20th East Asia Summit, Kuala Lumpur (October 27, 2025)

Your Excellency Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim,
Your Majesty,
Excellencies,

Let me begin by conveying the warmest greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to EAS on its 20th anniversary. India particularly welcomes Timor Leste to this forum.

Excellencies, we meet in complicated times. There are growing concerns about the reliability of supply chains and access to markets. Technology advancement has become very competitive; the quest for natural resources even more so. Energy trade is increasingly constricted, with resulting market distortions. Principles are applied selectively and what is preached is not necessarily practiced.

But change has a life of its own. And the world will inevitably respond to new circumstances. Adjustments will be made, calculations will come into play, fresh understandings will be forged, new opportunities will emerge and resilient solutions will be devised. At the end of the day, the realities of technology, of competitiveness, of market size, digitization, connectivity, of talent and of mobility cannot be ignored. Multipolarity is not just here to stay but to grow. All these warrant serious global conversations.

We are also witnessing conflicts that have significant repercussions, near and far. Deep human suffering apart, they undermine food security, they threaten energy flows and they disrupt trade. India, therefore, welcomes the Gaza peace plan. We also seek an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, terrorism poses a continuous and corrosive threat. The world must display zero tolerance; there is no room for ambivalence. Our right of defence against terrorism can never be compromised.

Excellencies, India fully supports the activities of the EAS and its future directions. We recently hosted the EAS knowledge exchange workshop on energy efficiency policies and a conclave of higher educational institutions.

Our commitment to furthering maritime cooperation remains strong, in line with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and our shared commitment to the 1982 UNCLOS. 2026 will be observed as the ASEAN-India year of maritime cooperation. Notably, more nations have joined the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

We wish to propose an EAS Maritime Heritage Festival to be held in the ancient port of Lothal in Gujarat. We also intend to host the 7th EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation.

Excellencies, on Myanmar, we were a 'First Responder' during the March earthquake. Our project on the India-Mynamar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, in which all of us have stakes, continues to progress. We share the concern about cyber scam centres in the region which has also entrapped our nationals.

India values EAS' contribution to peace, progress and prosperity. We look forward to the positive outcomes of this Summit. I thank you.

Kuala Lumpur
October 27, 2025