India's PM Narendra Modi, who is engaged in a new effort to improve his relations with Southeast Asian countries, will leave on Tuesday for a three-day visit to Brunei and Singapore. PM Modi will hold discussions with both of them to strengthen India's relations in the defense, energy, and technology sectors.
PM Modi will be in Singapore on 04-05 September and during this time two important agreements are likely to be signed between India and Singapore in the field of semiconductor manufacturing and digital payment. Secretary (former) in the Ministry of External Affairs Jaideep Majumdar says that the relationship between India and Singapore is ready for a big expansion.
Brunei's focus is on the defense sector
There is talk of some important announcements during PM Modi's visit. India is looking at the possibilities of increasing cooperation with Brunei in the energy and defense sector. Brunei has started paying more attention to the defense sector in recent years and has also sent a message to India for close cooperation. Majumdar has said that talks are also going on between the two countries regarding the formation of a working group in the defense sector. This will prove to be a direction-giver for defense relations.
India also purchases crude oil from Brunei. The possibility of cooperation between the two countries is also being explored in the oil exploration sector. The PM will be in Singapore on Wednesday and Thursday where he will hold talks with PM Lawrence Wong.
This will be the Indian PM's visit to Singapore after almost six years. By visiting Singapore at the beginning of his third term, PM Modi is indicating to further strengthen the relations between the two countries. Majumdar said that in the last few years, relations between India and Singapore have strengthened in every field.
Cooperation is continuously increasing in the defense sector. Economic relations are also strengthening. Just a week ago, the India-Singapore ministerial meeting was held in which Modi Cabinet's Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, Industry and Commerce Minister, and IT and Electronics Minister went to Singapore to participate.
Consensus reached on digitalization and advanced manufacturing
India does not organize such a government-level meeting with any other country. Majumdar said, "In this meeting, some new areas of future cooperation have been identified. Digitalization and advanced manufacturing are two such areas where there is consensus on the immense possibilities of cooperation.
India and Singapore's relations are ready to move even further ahead than the momentum that has been gained in the last 10-15 years." Given China's continuously aggressive attitude in Southeast Asia, the situation in this region is considered very serious at the global level.
Especially the way China has been refusing to accept the global order in the South China Sea, most countries have expressed their disagreement on this at the global stage. In such a situation, India's contact with the countries of this region is also increasing continuously.
In recent times, the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Vietnam have visited India. After this visit of PM Modi, he is likely to visit Laos in October next month where the ASEAN summit is to be held. A separate meeting of PM Modi with the ASEAN heads is possible there. In July 2024, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting.
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