On Wednesday, India and Myanmar discussed ties in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The commemorative India-ASEAN summit was taking place on Wednesday, and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were among the leaders who attended the meeting. It was held in the national capital.
This year’s India-ASEAN summit marks twenty-five years of India-ASEAN dialogue partnership. ASEAN comprises ten states: Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos, and Brunei. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had all ten of its leaders in attendance. The ten will also be chief guests at the Republic Day parade to be held on Friday 26th January. Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for the External Affairs ministry, posted a detailed series of tweets on the arrival of the leaders. Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Madame Tran Nguyen Thu were welcomed and received by Satyapal Singh, Minister of State for Human Resource Development. Satyapal Singh also received the President of Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Aung San Suu Kyi was welcomed warmly by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel. The Thailand Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn Chan-ho- cha were received by VK Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs.
Rohingya Refugee Factor
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi discussed ties between the two countries amid the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis. The two leaders extensively discussed intensifying their cooperation and made a follow up on the critical decisions taken during Modi’s meeting to Myanmar in September 2017. India and Vietnam also signed agreements centered on information and broadcasting as well as space cooperation. This was in a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Modi also met with President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, and they discussed trade and investment, defense and security, education and people-to-people cooperation. The two leaders signed an agreement to facilitate investment.
On January 25th, 2018, the leaders in attendance will attend a leaders’ retreat during which the leaders will engage in a “free and frank” discussion. The theme of the session will be “maritime cooperation and security.” Following the leaders’ retreat, there will be a plenary session held on the same day.
