ASEAN bloc must tap into rise of India, China: Singapore

Singapore: Singapore has asked the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc nations to ensure that they link themselves economically to rising Asian economic powers India and China so that the regional bloc expands in tandem with these two nations. For this it was also important that the regional bloc stayed on track with its own integration efforts, Singapore's foreign minister George Yeo Yong-boon said.

George Yeo Yong-boon

'Looking ahead to the 21st century, the re-encounter of China and India will be a very dramatic one and a lot of it will be through South-East Asia,' Yeo said.

'If we become not a place they fight over but a place where they meet and cooperate and link up, we will boom with them,' he said.

Yeo touched upon the issue of physical connectivity, pointing out that both India and China could be connected with South-East Asia through roads and railways. Electronic connection was also part of the scenario, he pointed out, saying in a lighter vein '...your Blackberry or your iPhone can be singing and dancing all the way from Delhi, through South-East Asia and to Beijing.'

'We should also talk about open skies agreements for air travel, maritime links - even riverine links.'