Jaishankar tells Blinken ahead of ASEAN meeting in Cambodia: 'Always good to meet'

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cambodia ahead of the ASEAN ministerial meeting on Thursday.

"Always good to meet. There's a lot we need to talk about and it is actually been a very busy year, we had a very good Quad and since then I think a number of developments all over the world...," Jaishnakar told Blinken in Phnom Penh.

Jaishankar had arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday to attend the ASEAN ministerial meeting.

The US Secretary of State said that the meeting is an opportunity for both the leaders to compare notes on mutual interest areas including a free and open Indo-Pacific as well as the Sri Lankan crisis.

"Taking part in the ASEAN meetings is the opportunity for us to get together and compare notes with our closest partners, starting with my longtime friend, Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar," Blinken said

"This is an opportunity for us to compare notes as we head into these very important ASEAN meetings. We're both strong proponents of ASEAN centrality. We have a shared vision together for a free and open Indo-Pacific that we work on in so many different ways every single day," US Secretary of State said.

Blinken also noted several challenges in Sri Lanka and Burma that concerns both India and the US.

"We have some immediate challenges that we're both concerned with including the situation in Sri Lanka, Burma and a number of other hotspots. So I very much look forward to once again being able to go through a number of these issues with my friend, and then we'll both head over to the meetings," Blinken said.

On Wednesday, Jaishankar visited the 12th century Ta Prohm Temple in Siem Reap of Cambodia.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

(ANI)

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