PM arrives in Laos for Summits - Fusion - WeRIndia

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Laos for to attend the ASEAN-India and the East Asia Summits. The summits are for the purpose of strengthening India’s trade and security ties with the strategic Southeast Asian region.

Modi is having a two day visit in Laos. In this visit, he will several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summits. The first one was with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe.

Laos, which is hosting the summit, organized a grand gala dinner on day one. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted about the arrival of PM Narendra Modi in Laos.

Once all the heads of state finish their dinner, there would be bilateral talks between Modi and Laotian PM Thongloun Sisoulith. The two country leaders are expected to talk about terrorism, maritime security, disaster management, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) etc.

The APEC group is something India wanted to join. It is an exclusive 21 member group. Modi talked about the summit and said that ASEAN is a very important partner for India’s ‘Act East’ policy. He said that this policy is useful for the economic development of Northeastern region of India. Modi gave clear statements before he attended the summits.

He said that his intention to visit this summit is because East Asia Summit is one of the most important forums for discussions. These meetings lets leaders of various countries talk about the challenges faced by all and what opportunities can be created for the Asia Pacific region.

India happens to be one of the founding members of the East Asia Summit. Modi said that the talks in the 14th ASEAN-India summit will focus on three pillars of politico-security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation between various countries. The two days of diplomacy is likely to improve foreign relations for India. New plans and announcements would likely be released after the summit is finished.

Image credit: Arrival of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India image by G20 Argentina is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Image Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/g20argentina/45378999534/