US President Barack Obama will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, the White House said today.
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President Park Geun-hye (L) and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe hold a summit on the sidelines of multiple summits with the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on September 7, 2016.
Asean faces three key challenges – fighting terror, improving trade and maintaining unity – that call for closer cooperation by member states, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told fellow leaders at the Asean summit yesterday.
Mr. Modi said India’s ties with the countries of South East Asia were truly historic.
India’s engagement with the ASEAN and wider Asia-Pacific region has acquired further momentum following the enunciation of the Act-East Policy by Modi at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit and 9th East Asia Summit in Myanmar in November 2014.
During the visit, he said he will also have the opportunity to interact with the leaders of participating countries to discuss bilateral issues of mutual concern.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Thongloun also mentioned that while ASEAN has continued to strengthen its internal cooperation, the bloc will strive to expand relations with its external partners.
Trade between India and ASEAN stood at $ 65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12% of India’s total trade with the world.
As to trade and investment cooperation, Li said China supports ASEAN’s leading role in negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and hopes negotiations could be accelerated to promote free trade and convenience.
China is also willing to work with Japan and South Korea to offer assistance to ASEAN nations on such fields as logistics and construction of supply chain to promote the economic integration in East Asia, he noted.
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India, being a founding member of the EAS, is committed to strengthening the EAS and making it more effective for dealing with contemporary challenges.
