Modi holds talks with Suu Kyi, Vietnam PM
NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of the tenuous security situation in the South China Sea, India and Vietnam decided to step up their maritime cooperation — the lead theme of the summit with ten south east Asian countries — for which nine leaders arrived to a rousing welcome in the national capital on Wednesday.
In a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the two leaders followed up on the key decisions taken during Modi’s visit to Myanmar.
Developmental cooperation in Rakhine state, where an outbreak of violence has caused hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, is something the two sides have been working on since foreign secretary S Jaishankar visited Myanmar last year. In his meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the first to arrive for the India-Asean summit marking country’s 25 years of partnership with the south east Asian countries, PM Modi discussed maritime cooperation and defence ties.
The countries signed two Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in the field of information and broadcasting and space cooperation.
“Long standing traditional & strategic partnership! PM @narendramodi met with Vietnamese PM Nguyen Phuc. Discussed cooperation in trade and investment, defence, maritime & other areas”, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.
Vietnam is one the claimants of the South China Sea, of which more than 90% is claimed by China. Other South East Asian countries such as the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims to the waters of the South China sea. China has taken up an aggressive position on the issue.
It doesn’t take kindly to the growing cooperation between India and Vietnam.
China recently slammed Vietnam for inviting India for exploration in the South China Sea, saying Beijing is opposed to any arrangement which infringes upon its rights.
According to Indian officials, maritime cooperation is an area of key focus in the summit.
It is the theme of the summit’s retreat along with security.The other MoU that was signed was for implementing an arrangement between the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the National Remote Sensing Department of Vietnam to establish a tracking and data reception station and a data processing facility in Vietnam under the Asean-India space cooperation.
The MoU will also define the framework and conditions of cooperation to establish a facility to provide Indian remote sensing satellite data over the Asean region to enable remote sensing applications, which include natural resources management, ocean development and disaster management by member states.
After the meeting between Modi and the Myanmar leader, Raveesh Kumar tweeted, “The two leaders had a productive discussion on intensifying bilateral cooperation, including a follow up on key decisions taken during PM’s visit to Myanmar in September 2017.”
The meeting came nearly a month after India and Myanmar inked an agreement on restoration of normalcy and development of the Rakhine state, and days after Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on repatriation of Rohingyas.