PM leaves for home after visits to Brunei, Indonesia

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday concluded his four-day visit to Brunei and Indonesia, and is on his way back to India.

During his visit to these two countries, Dr. Singh attended the ASEAN Summit., the ASEAN-India Summit, the East Asia Summit in Brunei. He also had bilateral meetings on the sidelines of these summits with several heads of government, including the Prime Ministers of Japan and Australia.

During these engagements, the Prime Minister sought ways to expand India's 'Look East' policy, and spoke about issues such as regional security, anti-terrorism, disaster management and combating corruption.

Trade ties with various countries of the Asia-Pacific region were also in focus during the visit to Brunei.

Dr. Singh also announced a separate mission for ASEAN a 10-member block of South East Asian nations, with a full time ambassador. He also announced plans for India to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on services and investments with ASEAN by the end of 2013 to help meet the India-ASEAN trade target of USD 100 billion by the year 2015.

Dr. Singh was in Brunei Darussalam from October 9-10.

In Indonesia capital Jakarta, Dr. Singh used his first official bilateral visit to sign six pacts in areas such as health, anti-corruption, narcotics, disaster management and academics.

It was also decided to broaden the strategic partnership by holding annual summits. An eminent persons group will also be set up as part of the relationship expansion process.

New areas like space, nuclear energy, food security, counter-terrorism and trans-border threats have also been identified for bilateral cooperation.

Co-operation will be expanded in areas like defence, maritime and a comprehensive action plan will be developed for security cooperation.

Dr. Singh also laid a wreath at the Kalibata Heroes' cemetery and called on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhohono.

Last night, a state banquet was also hosted by president and his wife Ani Bambang Yudhohono at Negara Palace for Dr. Singh and the Indian delegation.

The Indian delegation in Indonesia also included External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Chief Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar, besides other top officials.