PM Modi set to attend 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Laos to bolster India’s Act East Policy

NEW DELHI: India’s ties with Southeast Asian countries have been based on civilisational and cultural linkages which have grown into acquiring all the elements of a contemporary relationship. These countries are pillars in India’s ‘Act East’ Policy and Vision of the Indo-Pacific.

In bid to give further strength to this area, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Laos from October 10-11, where he is set to attend the 21st ASEAN-India Summit and the 19th East Asia Summit, being hosted by Laos, which is the current Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The East Asia Summit, a premier leaders-led forum that contributes to building an environment of strategic trust in the region, provides an opportunity for leaders of EAS Participating Countries, including India, to exchange views on issues of regional importance.

Prime Minister Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings on the margins of the two Summits. The visit comes at a time when India is marking a decade of the Act East Policy this year. PM Modi’s visit to Vientiane comes at the invitation of counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

The ASEAN-India Summit will review the progress of India-ASEAN relations through Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and chart the future direction of cooperation.

The year 2024 marks a decade of India’s Act East Policy and during this decade, the engagements have grown from stronger people-to-people connections to robust cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security, and connectivity including fin-tech, heritage conservation and capacity building. This year also marks important anniversaries of the establishment of India’s diplomatic relations with several countries in the region – 75th with Indonesia, 75th with the Philippines, 60th with Singapore and 40th with Brunei.

Meanwhile, during the first 100 days of his third term, PM Modi received the Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Malaysia in New Delhi.

PM Modi also visited Brunei and Singapore and had fruitful discussions with the leadership in September. Prime Minister’s visit to Brunei was the first ever bilateral visit to the country by an Indian Prime Minister. President of India also travelled to Timor-Leste for the first-ever Head of State visit from India on August 10.

Each of these visits witnessed the signing and exchange of several MoUs/Agreements and some significant announcements. India-Malaysia and India-Singapore ties were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was strengthened and India-Brunei ties were elevated to Enhanced Partnership.

India and Singapore signed the MoU on Semiconductor Ecosystem Partnership and agreed that advanced manufacturing, particularly in developing resilient semiconductor supply chains, could be a new pillar of bilateral cooperation.

PM Modi at the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta last year, had announced India’s decision to open a Resident Mission in Dili, Timor-Leste. The Indian Resident Mission in Dili has been recently operationalised.

Direct flights between Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and New Delhi (India) have commenced from June 2024. while direct flights between India and Brunei (Chennai-Bandar Seri Begawan) are also likely to commence soon.

India’s civilisational links with the Southeast Asian countries have been nourished by the sacred threads of Buddhism and Ramayana. These links are re-invigorated through initiatives such as the revival of the Nalanda University, the new campus of which was inaugurated earlier this year. Restoration and conservation of World Heritage sites such as Vat Phou in Lao PDR, Angkor Vat, Preah Vihear Temple and Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia and My Son in Vietnam by Archaeological Survey of India is helping preserve our shared heritage.

India is also co-chair of the International Coordination Committee (ICC) of UNESCO for Preah Vihear Temple in Cambodia.

PM Modi and the Prime Minister of Vietnam jointly inaugurated on August 1, the Army Software Park at Telecommunications University, Nha Trang established with a grant of USD 5 million by the Government of India. During the Prime Minister’s visit to Brunei Darussalam, India and Brunei signed an MoU on Cooperation in the operation of Telemetry, Tracking and Telecommand Station for Satellite and Launch Vehicles.

During the recent visit of Vietnam’s Prime Minister to India, Vietnam conveyed its decision to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) on August 1.

In the wake of Typhoon Yagi, India extended emergency humanitarian assistance to Laos and Vietnam under Operation Sadbhav. A consignment of 35 tons of humanitarian assistance for Vietnam and 10 tons for Laos was provided.

India has been among the first responders in providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) to the region. Operation Sadbhav was part of India’s broader effort to contribute to HADR within the ASEAN region, in line with its long-standing ‘Act East’ Policy. (ANI)