India, Laos review bilateral ties

India and Laos reviewed the entire gamut of their bilateral ties during the Ninth Joint Commission meeting co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith here on Friday.

"The meeting reviewed the India-Lao PDR relations comprehensively and took note of all that has been achieved and current state of the various cooperation programmes," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

"The meeting also laid out the road map for future cooperation and enhancement in bilateral relations," it stated.

Laos is member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regional bloc with which New Delhi has been actively engaging under its Act East Policy.

Sushma Swaraj paid a two-day official visit to Laos that started on Thursday.

She was accompanied by a delegation of senior officers from the Ministry of External Affairs as well as some members of media.

Prior to the Joint Commission meeting, Sushma Swaraj met Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and discussed bilateral relations and various areas of mutual interest and cooperation.

According to the Ministry statement, Sushma Swaraj assured Sisoulith that India will stand by Laos in its quest for development and growth and will be happy to assist through soft loans projects aimed at building Laos's infrastructure, including roads, agriculture and irrigation, IT, human resource development and other sectors.

On Thursday, soon after her arrival here, she interacted with members of the small Indian community and asked them to work towards contributing to the increase of bilateral contacts between India and the Southeast Asian nation especially in the commercial and cultural fields.

--IANS

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