Media Eye News Bureau: On the eve of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit (AICS) to celebrate 25 years of India-ASEAN partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had separate bilateral meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar, Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines.
Prime Minister welcomed the three leaders to India for participation in the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and also for accepting the invitation to be Chief Guests at the Republic Day celebrations on 26th January this year.
During the meeting of Modi with Suu Kyi, discussions were held on various issues of mutual interest and ways of further strengthening the bilateral relations, including follow up on key decisions taken during the visit of Modi to Myanmar in Septmber 2017.
In the meeting with Prime Minister Phuc, the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the growth of bilateral relations between the two countries within the framework of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the fields of maritime co-operation in the Indo-Pacific region, defence, oil and gas, trade and investment.
The leaders agreed that the two agreements signed during this visit viz., on cooperation in the fields of Information & Broadcasting and on establishment of tracking and data reception station and data processing facility in Vietnam under the ASEAN-India Space Cooperation would give further boost to India-Vietnam relations. They expressed satisfaction at operationalisation of the Line of Credit of US $ 100 million under which L&T has been awarded contract for manufacture of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs). They decided that the other Line of Credit of US $ 500 million be operationalised soon.
During the meeting with President Duterte, the two leaders reviewed the progress in bilateral relations and in global and regional situation since their meeting in Manila in November 2017.
It was agreed to give further momentum to co-operation between the two countries, particularly in the field of infrastructure development. They agreed that under India's Act East Policy and the Philippines' Build-Build-Build Programme, there are several areas for cooperation between private sectors of the two countries.
The leaders also witnessed exchange of an MOU between Invest India and Board of Investments of the Philippines.
The visiting dignitaries underscored the importance of ASEAN-India relations for peace, security and socio-economic development in the Indo-Pacific region, and looked forward to the deliberations in the AICS.
