India to participate in Asia-Europe dialogue (ASME)

• Vice President Hamid Ansari will represent India at the Eighth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit beginning in Brussels from Monday.
  
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had attended the previous ASEM summit in Beijing two years ago, which was the first for India.
• Beginning as a dialogue forum between the European Union\European Commission and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEM broadened into a stage for interaction between Europe and Asia by including six countries from the North East and South Asia, of which India is one.
• The main theme of the meeting will be the international economic and financial crisis.
• It will also discuss climate change and ways to strengthen the multilateral trade system. The meeting will be chaired by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.