New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS): Partnership with Asean is an essential component of India's "Look East policy", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday before leaving for Bali to attend the 9th India-Asean Summit as well as the 6th East Asia Summit.

The Prime Minister, who will also be going to Singapore for two-day bilateral visit, said that the East Asia Summit is the principal forum to device an "open and inclusive architecture of regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region".

"Increasingly, political and security issues are becoming part of the East Asia Summit agenda. There are concerns among the countries of the region over issues relating to disaster management, maritime security, terrorism and other non-traditional threat to security," he said.

Stating that Singapore was a key partner for India, Manmohan Singh said: "India's Look East policy started with our engagement with Singapore and that country has been among strong advocates of greater cooperation between South East Asia and India."