Modi is scheduled to have several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summits, beginning with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave on Wednesday for Laos on a two-day visit to attend the annual India-ASEAN and East Asia summits.
“Two democracies and a defining partnership of our era!”
India has been seeking to join the exclusive 21-member APEC.
India is a founding member of the East Asia Summit.
In addition to this, he said, the leaders were also expected to have constructive discussion on the Asean-China cooperation throughout its 25 years of cooperation and its future direction.
At the 11th East Asia Summit, leaders will discuss matters of regional and worldwide interest and concerns including maritime security, terrorism, non-proliferation and irregular migration.
In his address to the ASEAN-India Summit, Modi called sea lanes as “life lines of global trade” and said securing seas was a shared responsibility.
“During the visit, I will also have the opportunity to interact with the leaders of participating countries to discuss bilateral issues of mutual concern”, he added.
The East Asia summit will be attended by the leaders of the 10 Asean nations and those of India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russian Federation. The five-year work plan, an integral part of the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together, aims to narrow the development gap, enhance the region’s competitiveness and support the implementation of the three Community Blueprints which ASEAN leaders adopted in November last year.
ASEAN is a strategic partner of India since 2012.
A total of 66 dialogue mechanisms at various levels have been established in 24 fields within the framework of ASEAN+3, covering diplomacy, economy, finance, agriculture, labor, tourism, environment, the fight against cross-border crime, health care, energy, telecommunications, social welfare and administration innovation.
And economic relations have kept pace with the times since the 2004 Asean-China free trade agreement.
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Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Russian Federation.
