Asean leaders arrive, Modi holds talks with Suu Kyi, Vietnam PM
KEY HUDDLE Modi discusses Rohingya issue with Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi
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.
Signed during foreign secretary S Jaishankar’s visit to Myanmar, the pact was the first government-to-government agreement by Myanmar with a cooperation partner focused on socio-economic development in the Rakhine state. A pact to boost investments in each other’s country was signed after the meeting between Modi and Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines. All the 10 Asean leaders will also be the chief guests at the Republic Day parade. The summit marks 25 years of India-asean relations, 15 years of summit partnership with Asean and 5 years of India’s strategic partnership. There are, in total, 30 dialogue mechanisms between India and Asean, across various sectors
trade with Asean in 2016-17
India's export to Asean
India's import from Asean of investment flows into India comes from Asean (approximately)
The India-myanmar-thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multimodal Project, connecting India and Myanmar are in progress
A possible extension of the India-myanmar-thailand Trilateral Highway to Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam is currently under consideration
CHINA
Asean-india Cooperation Fund: In 2009, India announced a contribution of $50 million to the Asean-india Fund, to support the implementation of the Asean-india Plans of Action for deepening ties across economic and socio-cultural spheres. Projects worth approximately $48 million are under various stages of implementation or processing.
Asean-india Science &Technology Development Fund (AISTDF)
Asean-india Green Fund