Post-Brexit Britain deepens ties with Southeast Asia
(VOVWORLD) - The UK must move beyond its old “baseline alliances” in the West as it becomes the Southeast Asian bloc’s first new partner in 25 years, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab declared on Thursday at a virtual signing ceremony with the 10 nations from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
 UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Becoming ASEAN’s dialogue partner forms a diplomatic pillar of a three-front foreign policy strategy in the region, which aims at strengthening trade and security ties. It is part of the UK’s broader reach towards the Indo-Pacific, as the government pursues a post-Brexit vision of ‘global Britain’.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Raab explained that becoming a dialogue partner with ASEAN will offer opportunities for Great Britain because the Indo-Pacific is the growth market of the future. He added that the UK’s prosperity and security are influenced by its deepening ties with regions other than the West, of which ASEAN holds a great importance.