New Delhi: India and the Southeast Asian nations will observe 2026 as a year of maritime cooperation and will also hold a second naval exercise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he virtually addressed the ASEAN leaders, who assembled for the annual summits in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Modi said that an early conclusion of the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITGA) could unleash the full economic potential of New Delhi’s relationship with the 11-nation bloc for the benefit of the peoples and further strengthen regional cooperation. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who hosted the ASEAN conclaves, said that the review of the 2009 trade deal had seen some “real progress” and the Southeast Asian nations would like to conclude the process by the end of this year.

The review

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