Yesterday, the two day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) India Commemorative Summit started in New Delhi. The two day summit will be followed by the grand Republic Day parade and celebrations with the ten Leaders as chief guests. The ten ASEAN countries include Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei. The ASEAN India Commemorative Summit will mark 25 years of India’s ties with the Southeast Asian Nations.
A few days before the arrival of the Leaders of the 10 countries, the Defence Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The Prime Minister’s (PM) intention that the Look East policy should now be the ‘Act East’ policy is really taking shape.” Today the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi will hold bilateral meetings with the Leaders of the Southeast Asian countries. It is said this meet can be an opportunity for India to present itself as a powerful ally to these countries in the areas of trade and connectivity.
Yesterday, Modi held bilateral meetings with the Leaders of the ten ASEAN countries. After Modi’s meet with Myanmar’s State Councillor Aung San Su Kyi, the External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Raveesh Kumar in a tweet said, “The two leaders had a productive discussion on intensifying bilateral cooperation, including follow up on key decisions taken during PM’s visit to Myanmar in September 2017.” Today, there will also be a Leaders’ retreat where all the ten Leaders will have a free and frank discussion with Modi. The theme of the retreat session is Maritime Cooperation and Security.
