In a bid to give India’s Act East Policy a further boost, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will undertake her first visit of the year to three South East Asian countries — Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore — from January 4-8. All aspects of bilateral relations will be discussed with special focus on political, defence and economic ties and on further enhancing India’s engagement with ASEAN countries.
EAM will also share with her counterparts information about the forthcoming ASEAN-India Commemorative in New Delhi Summit where the Prime Ministers of the ten ASEAN countries will also be the chief guest of the Republic Day parade. Thailand will take over as the role of coordinator country, from Vietnam, for India-ASEAN relations in the middle of 2018.
During her visit to Thailand on January 4-5, Swaraj will hold meeting with her counterpart Don Pramudwinai. In Indonesia, EAM will co-chair the 5th meeting of India-Indonesia Joint Commission with her counterpart Retno Marsudi on January 5-6. The ministers will also inaugurate the second meeting of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks.
“As the biggest country in the ASEAN region with the largest economy, Indonesia is an important partner for India including in trade and strategic matters. In recent times, there has been intensive engagement between the two countries bilaterally, as well as plurilaterally. The Joint Commission meeting and other engagements of EAM will enable the two countries to chart out the course of partnership during the year 2018,” Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
During her visit to Singapore on January 6-8, EAM will inaugurate the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) of ASEAN countries. The theme of the event is “Ancient Route, New Journey: Diaspora in the Dynamic ASEAN-India Partnership”. She will have bilateral meetings with the leaders in Singapore and also interactions with PIO delegations from ASEAN countries, who are participating in the PBD. The Regional PBD is a large scale event covering a wide range of sectors including political relations, economic and investment, tourism and culture, connectivity, start-ups, science and technology etc. PIO delegations from all ASEAN countries, including ministers, eminent personalities, business and socio-political leaders are participating in the event.