Secretary General of ASEAN, H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi,
Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University, Prof. Sunaina Singh,
Executive Director of ASEAN University Network, Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti,
Excellencies & Distinguished Guests

I would like to begin by congratulating Nalanda University and ASEAN University Network for successfully collaborating to setup the ASEAN-India Network of Universities or AINU. The AINU was announced by Prime Minister Modi during ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi and I am very happy to inaugurate it today, alongwith Secretary General of ASEAN. I am indeed grateful to the Nalanda University for its diligent effort to implement the vision of our Prime Minister. I am also grateful to ASEAN University Network for their stewardship of the process to give shape to this project.

2. The AINU is envisaged as a consortium of premier institutes from India and ASEAN that will build a core network of knowledge capital through strategic partnerships among academic and research institutions in India and ASEAN member states. Such "Collective Knowledge Network” with ASEAN becomes even more important as we prepare for a post-pandemic, 21st–century-ready economic and developmental pathway where knowledge and education are central.

3. Three decades ago, in early 1990s, India took strategic course of enhancing its engagement towards the East which has led to our flourishing cooperation with the ASEAN. Today our cooperation has grown beyond its initial economic dimension to cover multiple facets including connectivity in various forms, people-to-people ties, and more recently, strategic as well as defence & security aspects. The graduation of our Look East Policy to Act East Policy follows this growth pattern. Today substantial portion of India’s interests lie to the East of India, beyond the Indian Ocean and into the Pacific.

4. The current economic and strategic realities make the separation of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean as distinct compartments less and less tenable. ASEAN is at the centre of this Indo-Pacific region both geographically and strategically. It is not just an important ‘gateway’ in and out of the Indian Ocean but also one of the most dynamic regions of the world today with its own ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific or AOIP.

5. Our own vision for the Indo-Pacific builds on India’s Act East Policy and SAGAR, Doctrine. SAGAR is an Indian word for ocean, and is an acronym for Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) which was articulated by our Prime Minister in Mauritius in 2015. To give concrete shape to India’s vision of the Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative or IPOI at the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Bangkok in November 2019. The IPOI is a natural fit with AOIP both in its principles and objectives. We are committed to implement the synergies between the IPOI and the ASEAN Outlook to achieve a sustainable future in synchronisation with the national goals of all EAS partner countries. This is reflected in the Joint Statement between ASEAN and India which was adopted at the 18th ASEAN-India Summit in 2021.

6. India envisages the ASEAN to be at the centre of the Indo-Pacific, both literally and substantively. Our interactions with ASEAN as a whole as well as with individual ASEAN countries have grown as a result of our Indo-Pacific Vision. Our trade with all ASEAN countries, for the last financial year touched the all time high of USD 110 billion which is 10 % of our global trade. Both inflow and outflow of Overseas Direct Investment between India and ASEAN countries also stand at around 20% of the total. Review of ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement remains high on our agenda to enhance our bilateral trade relations. ASEAN has been a popular destination for the Indian tourists, and it hosts a strong Indian Diaspora. On strategic level, as well, we are intensifying our cooperation in the area of defence, maritime security, cyber-security and transnational crime. Efforts are being made to increase connectivity with the region through air and maritime links and across land border. Events like Artists camp, Music Festival, Youth summit and Hackathon regularly dot our annual calendar to promote linkages among our youth.

7. ASEAN-India partnership is built on a foundation of shared values, the most fundamental of which is the priority our civilizations attach to education. Our partnership with the nations of Southeast Asia has historically developed through a shared quest for knowledge. Even trade and political ties have followed the pathways and sea routes created by monks, saints and scholars. So it is only natural that in the modern age as well, knowledge remains the fundamental driver of people-to-people ties.

8. This is also the underlying logic in offering scholarships to students from the ASEAN Member States in the premium institutes of India including the 1000 Phd Fellowship at IITs. We have welcomed students from our Southeast Asian neighbourhood to transform the world by doing research on cutting-edge areas. It helps the next generation of all ten ASEAN partners, and their Indian counterparts, develop new bonds of friendship.

9. As a producer and incubator of knowledge and knowledge systems, India has always been open to sharing its learning with the world. India is fairly unique in being host to tens of thousands of international students as well as sending out tens of thousands of students abroad. This two-way process and exchange of young students, scholars, academics and talent will continue and in fact intensify in the years ahead. We welcome it as such exchanges are fundamental to international understanding and to a globalised economy.

10. India’s National Education Policy, launched in 2020 is our endeavors towards facilitating this process. It aims at welcoming foreign students by providing premium education at affordable costs. It provides greater avenues for international universities to explore partnerships with Indian universities to set up teaching, learning and research programmes through micro hubs at Indian university campuses. Creative forms of collaboration, through dual degree programmes and online degrees and credits, will further facilitate opportunities for foreign universities in India without having to necessarily go down the campus route.

11. India’s National Education Policy addresses the needs and realities of the fourth industrial revolution as well as emerging post-pandemic scenarios. As we have all seen and experienced through the past two years, digital tools and systems are an immense force multiplier, and can help us make up – to the degree possible – for the absence of physical meetings and capacities. When combined with the emerging trend of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary curricula and degree programmes, huge potential exists for inter-country and cross-continental collaboration.

12. The best universities of this century will not be the ones with the oldest histories and the tallest buildings – but the ones with the most diverse, innovative and global partnerships. Rather than setting up a greenfield facility for a related or even innovatively aligned sub-discipline, a university or a technical institution may find it useful to partner with another university. The appropriate partner could be in the next district, in a neighbouring country, or even another continent.

13. Such educational partnership envisage cooperation through several initiatives including exchange of faculty & students, scholar & researchers; sharing of information and publications; organizing joint seminars, workshops, conferences; working towards mutual recognition of qualifications; developing institutional linkages. The ASEAN-India Network of Universities takes its first step with exchange of faculty and I hope that it expands further to include additional aspects to ASEAN-India educational cooperation to establish focused and effective partnerships.

14. It is befitting that AINU is anchored in Nalanda University which was endorsed at the 3rd East Asia Summit (EAS) in January 2007 in Manila. The University draws inspiration from its illustrious, historical predecessor – Nalanda Mahavihara. The Nalanda Mahavihar served as the conduit of India’s intellectual connections with the larger Asia, drawing students and scholars from East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. The Nalanda University aims to re-establish these linkages for the emergence of Asia as the knowledge hub of 21st century. I am confident that the ASEAN-India Network of Universities will expand the frontiers of learning, scholarship and knowledge – for the good of our societies and our people.

Thank you.

Jakarta
August 29, 2022