5 told the G20 summit here that Pakistan was spreading terror in South Asia and using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.
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India’s ties with Pakistan have soured after Islamabad declared Jammu and Kashmir terrorist Burhan Wani, shot dead by security forces, as a “martyr”.
Recognising terrorism as a significant threat to peace and stability in the region, India and the 10-member Asean on Thursday made a strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
The two sides need to take concrete measures to promote trade, investment and infrastructure and digital connectivity, thereby tightening connections between ASEAN and India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the five BRICS nations are an influential voice in global discourse and it is their shared responsibility to shape the worldwide agenda.
The White House official said Obama thanked Modi for his cooperation on a broad range of global and bi lateral issues and commended his leadership in addressing the urgent threats posed by climate change.
He also met several world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, on the sidelines of the summit.
The South China Sea disputes should likewise be resolved peacefully, he said, adding that Singapore’s position is “well-enunciated and unchanged”.
But China reacted angrily, saying it neither accepts nor recognises the ruling.
China, which established a dialogue relationship with ASEAN in 1991, was the first to ink the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and the first to become ASEAN’s strategic partner.
This could be the last meeting between Modi and Obama as leaders of the two countries with Obama’s second term as US President coming to an end in January next year.
EAS is held after annual ASEAN leaders’ meetings. “In particular, the United States president expressed confidence that the passage of GST will unleash significant economic activity”, sources said.
The chemistry between the two leaders was all perceptible when Modi broke protocol and pulled Obama into a bear hug as he de-boarded his Air Force One previous year.
A simmering war of words between Pakistan and India heated up on Thursday when Islamabad accused New Delhi of sponsoring and financing terrorism in South Asia.
India’s engagement with ASEAN and the wider Asia Pacific Region has acquired further momentum following the enunciation of the Act East Policy by the Prime Minister.
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Apart from Obama, Modi held bilateral meetings with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, State Counsellor and Foreign Minister of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, and Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith during the course of the day.
