Singapore, March 18:

Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has said he was keen on forging a wider free trade agreement (FTA) between the ASEAN, India, Japan and China, according to media reports on Sunday.

Lee, who is headed on a four-day tour of Japan, said, “We can cooperate with China, Japan and India, and we can participate in the prosperity of Asia.” He said the rise of China and India had presented the 10-member ASEAN with an “overriding interest” in cooperating and growing closer.

“Unless ASEAN is able to have a close economic cooperation, we would be marginalised,” The Sunday Times quoted Lee as saying.

Relations within Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may not be great always, but Lee said the growth of China and India was a spur for the countries to work together.

ASEAN includes Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.