ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting Focuses on Food Security

The 9th ASEAN–India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (AIMMAF) was held in New Delhi on 9 September 2026. The meeting was co-chaired by Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare of India.

ASEAN–India Cooperation in Agriculture

AIMMAF is a ministerial platform for cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India in agriculture and forestry. The 10th ASEAN–India Working Group on Agriculture and Forestry finalised technical recommendations one day before the ministerial meeting.

The ministers endorsed the strategic frameworks of ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future and the ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sectoral Plan 2026–2030. These frameworks cover resilient development, regional food security, and environmental safeguards in the ASEAN region.

Medium-Term Plan of Action 2026–2030

The participants discussed the ASEAN–India Medium-Term Plan of Action for Cooperation in Agriculture and Forestry 2026–2030. The plan includes joint research and development, digital technology exchange, policy dialogues, and farmer-to-farmer programmes.

The cooperation agenda also covered AI-enabled digital agriculture, low-emission rice cultivation, water productivity, soil health, circular bioeconomy, and resilient value chains. These areas fall within agriculture, forestry, and agri-food systems.

Trade and Bilateral Engagements

ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn stated in pre-recorded remarks that bilateral trade in goods between ASEAN and India reached US$128 billion in the 2025–26 fiscal year. Agriculture-related trade formed part of the wider ASEAN-India economic relationship.

Malaysian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu took part in an interaction session on technology transfer, knowledge exchange, and value chain integration in the agro-food sector. Shivraj Singh Chouhan also held bilateral talks with ministers from Malaysia, Timor-Leste, and Myanmar on market access, institutional capacity building, and trade in agricultural commodities such as pulses.

Important Facts for Exams

• ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was established in 1967.
• India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and a strategic partner in 2012.
• Agriculture and forestry cooperation between ASEAN and India is discussed under the ASEAN–India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry.
• Low-emission rice cultivation is linked to climate-smart agriculture and methane reduction in paddy systems.

Key Institutional Terms

ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future is a long-term strategic framework for the ASEAN community. The ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sectoral Plan 2026–2030 is a sectoral plan for food systems, agriculture, and forestry cooperation.