New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Laos beginning Thursday to attend the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit where improving connectivity and expanding digital public infrastructure are expected to be the key issues on the table.
Modi's visit also commemorates 10 years of the Act East Policy that has seen India build convergences with ASEAN’s own outlook for the Indo-Pacific region that has seen China’s expansive activities in the South China Sea.
Modi is also expected to meet the newly appointed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who will be attending the East Asia Summit – his first overseas visit since assuming office on October 1.
Territorial tensions in the South China Sea and the civil war in Myanmar will also be on the table. ASEAN has proposed a peace plan that calls for a ceasefire and mediation among the warring factions in Myanmar.
Briefing the media about the prime minister's visit, Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry said the five-point consensus was an overarching consensus among ASEAN countries and their partners about the situation in Myanmar.
"Our position is very supportive of the five-point consensus of ASEAN," Mazumdar said.
Modi will hold bilateral meetings with the prime minister of Laos Sonexay Siphandone and other leaders on the margins of the two key summits in Vientiane.
"We attach great significance to all ASEAN-related mechanisms. This will be the Prime Minister’s tenth attendance at an ASEAN-India Summit," Mazumdar said.
He said the summit in Vientiane will be the 10th anniversary of the prime minister's Act East policy.
"The prime minister will, along with other Heads of State and governments of ASEAN countries, review the progress in the relations between India and ASEAN over this time. And they will chart the future direction of our relationship," Mazumdar said.
He said connectivity was a very important pillar of India’s engagement with ASEAN as 20 per cent of the Indian diaspora worldwide lives in ASEAN countries.
"We have direct flights with seven ASEAN countries. And we expect that perhaps before the end of the year, we will have direct flight connectivity with two more ASEAN countries," Mazumdar said.
He said building resilient supply chains was an important objective for India with ASEAN countries.
India has a close, friendly, historical and civilisational relationship with Laos, which includes a whole host of different areas, such as restoration of cultural sites, capacity building, and power projects, he added.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967.
The member States are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Brunei Darussalam.
The East Asia Summit comprises the 10 ASEAN countries, and eight partners – Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. Timor-Leste has the observer status at the EAS.