Sushma Swaraj leaves for Vietnam, Cambodia

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left on Sunday on a five-day visit to Vietnam and Cambodia to further boost New Delhi's Act East Policy.

"Adding dynamism to our Act East policy," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, adding that the trip would help continue "our high-level engagement with South East Asian countries".

In Vietnam, Sushma Swaraj will co-chair the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with her counterpart Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

She will also call on Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

On Monday, she will inaugurate the third edition of the Indian Ocean Conference.

In Cambodia, she will have a bilateral meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn and call on Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of Senate Say Chhum.

"The visit ... will provide an opportunity to hold in-depth discussions with the political leadership on a wide range of global, regional and bilateral issues and advance our strategic engagement with these countries and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

The Asean-India region together represents a combined population of 1.85 billion, which is a quarter of the global population, and a GDP of over $3.8 trillion.

--IANS

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