Cebu (Philippines): India and Asean today agreed to consider joint flagship projects to bolster cooperation in diversified areas and pledged to intensify efforts to bridge the development gap between less developed and other members of the grouping.

New Delhi's support for the Initiative for Asean Integration (IAI) aimed at assisting the CMLV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) members of Asean came in for praise at the ministerial meet here co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda.

The ministerial meet comes ahead of the India-Asean Summit on Sunday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will arrive here tomorrow.

Indian officials said the Asean ministers emphasized the potential for further expansion of cooperation, given the strengths of the Indian economy and expertise in scientific and technological fields, including IT.

Mukherjee agreed that the two sides would consider joint flagship projects that would capitalize on the complementary strengths of India and Asean.

"India-Asean relations came under review and the ministers also discussed its future direction," the officials said.