India would like to work with US, Japan for early membership of APEC: Sushma Swaraj

New York: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday announced that India would like to work with the United States and Japan for its early membership of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Addressing the India-US-Japan trilateral meeting, Swaraj said that the summit highlighted increasing convergence of the strategic, political, economic and security interests between the three nations.

"India pushes for freedom of navigation, maritime security, and APEC membership. We see a strong connect between our discussions today and India`s Act East policy." Swaraj said."India-US-Japan trilateral highlights shared support for peace, democracy, prosperity, & a rules-based intnl order," Minstry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The BRICS Foreign Ministers also met here earlier where they reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestation.

Speaking on the United Nations Security Council reforms, the BRICS Foreign Ministers reiterated their intention to contribute to safeguard a fair and equitable international order based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as stated in the Ufs Summit declaration.

"They called 2005 world summit outcome document. They reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations including its security council with a view to making it more representative and efficient," the joint statement said.