29 August 2014 – Eight (8) Indian journalists participating in the ASEAN-India Media Exchange Programme (AIMEP) paid a courtesy call on the Spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Assistant Secretary Charles C. Jose, today at the DFA main office in Pasay City.
Assistant Secretary Jose warmly welcomed the Indian media delegation on behalf of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario and cited the importance of the AIMEP to the continuing development of people-to-people ties between India and the ASEAN countries, including the Philippines.
“Next year, 2015, marks twenty years of full partnership between India and ASEAN and it is our hope to see both sides deepen their engagement with each other, and work together in promoting peace, understanding and development in our region,” Assistant Secretary Jose remarked.
The DFA Spokesperson shared the Philippines’ views and positions on the South China Sea issue and answered the delegates’ questions about the current state and future direction of Philippines-India relations.
The ASEAN-India Media Exchange Programme is among a number of initiatives aimed at promoting people-to-people contacts between ASEAN and India. Under the AIMEP, during the three-year period (2012-2014), 40 ASEAN media personel, in batches of 20, will visit India each year; and 40 Indian journalists in five groups of eight, will visit a selection of two ASEAN countries per group.
The first batch of 20 ASEAN journalists visited India in February 2012. Writer and information officer Rachelle Nessia from the Philippine Information Agency-Dumaguete City and Philippine News Agency-Manila senior news editor Lily Ramos represented the Philippines. The second batch traveled to India during the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in December 2012, while the third batch was dispatched during the Delhi Dialogue V in February last year.
Reciprocally, the first batch of eight Indian journalists visited Cambodia and Vietnam in early July 2012, coinciding with the ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting and the launch of the Logo for the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and related activities in Phnom Penh. The next group of eight Indian journalists visited Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam from 26 June to 03 July 2013, in conjunction with the 11th ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting from 01 to 02 July 2013 in Brunei Darussalam.
The present group is composed of journalists working in the leading print, TV and online news organizations in India. Their tour of the Philippines is preceded by a visit to Viet Nam. END