New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) India has been urged to join a grouping of Asian and European countries that feels that New Delhi can play a "very positive and important" role in view of its rising economic and political status.
The sixth summit of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) that took place in Helsinki Sep 11-12 invited India, Mongolia and Pakistan from Asia and Bulgaria and Romania from Europe besides the ASEAN Secretariat to become its members.
The proposed enlargement would take the strength of the 10-year-old ASEM from 39 countries to 45, ahead of the next ASEM summit in Beijing in 2008.
"India's involvement is a very important matter," Francisco de Camara Gomes, head of the delegation of the European Commission here, told a news conference.
"Taking into consideration India's growing important, political and economic, we are confident India will make a very positive and important contribution," he said.
Ambassador Asko Numminen of Finland, which hosted the latest ASEM meeting, said the expansion of the body was "very important".
"India is one of the pillars of Asia. China is already there and Japan is already there. It is time for India to join ASEM."
The addition of the new countries, he said, would add "dynamism, strength and sustainability" to ASEM, which he added had become more powerful than ever before.
With the inclusion of India and other countries, ASEM would represent the interests of almost 60 percent of the world population.