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ASEAN Summit
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi unlikely to travel to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit, the Congress on Thursday claimed that the reason for his not going was that the PM doesn't want to be cornered by US President Donald Trump. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said posting messages in praise of President Trump on social media is one thing, but to be seen hobnobbing physically with the man who has claimed 53 times that he stopped Operation Sindoor and has claimed five times that India has promised to stop buying oil from Russia is far too risky for him. "For days the speculation has been - will He or won't He? Will Mr. Modi go to Kuala Lumpur for the Summit or not?" Ramesh said on X. "Now it appears certain that the PM will not go. It means the loss of so many opportunities to hug and get photo ops with world leaders or to flaunt himself as the self-styled Vishwaguru," the Congress leader said. "The reason why Mr. Modi is not going is simple. He jus
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to travel to Malaysia to participate in the meetings related to the ASEAN summit beginning Sunday due to scheduling issues, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. It is learnt that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the meetings. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28. There is no official word on India's level of participation at the deliberations related to the summit. The people cited above said India is learnt to have conveyed to Malaysia that Jaishankar will represent India at the ASEAN meetings. There is a possibility of PM Modi's participation through virtual mode at the ASEAN-India summit. The prime minister has led the Indian delegations at the ASEAN-India summit and the East Asia Summit in the last few years. Malaysia has invited US President Donald Trump as well as leaders of several countries which are the dialogue par
Malaysia and the US are facilitating efforts to secure an expanded ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia that they hope will be signed during a Southeast Asian summit later this month, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on Tuesday. Thailand and Cambodia engaged in five days of combat in late July that killed dozens of people and displaced more than 260,000. They agreed to a ceasefire only after mediation by Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless they agreed on a truce. Tensions have remained high since the truce, particularly after Thai soldiers were injured by land mines in August while patrolling a buffer zone between the countries. Thailand accused Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the ceasefire, which the government in Phnom Penh has strongly denied. Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has said Phnom Penh must accept four conditions. They .
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Australia and Singapore from November 3 to 8 during which he will meet leaders of the two countries and address the 8th Roundtable of ASEAN, an official statement said on Saturday. Jaishankar will co-chair the 15th Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue (FMFD) with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra, the statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. "EAM will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session of the 2nd Raisina Down Under to be held in the Australian Parliament House. EAM is also scheduled to have interactions with Australian leadership, parliamentarians, members of the Indian diaspora, business community, media and think tanks," it said. During the visit, Jaishankar will travel to Brisbane and inaugurate India's fourth consulate in Australia, it added. At the second India-Australia 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue held in Delhi in November last year, both sides had ..
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday arrived in Laos on a two-day visit to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits to further deepen engagement with countries in the groupings. Modi is visiting Lao PDR on the invitation of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. Laos is the current chair of the ASEAN. During the visit, Modi will participate in the 21st ASEAN-India and the 19th East Asia summits. In his departure statement, Modi noted that India is marking a decade of Act East policy this year. "I will join the ASEAN leaders to review progress in our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and chart the future direction of our cooperation," the prime minister said. The East Asia Summit will provide an opportunity to deliberate on the challenges to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, he said. Modi said India shared close cultural and civilisation ties with the region, including with the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), which is enriched by a shared .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Laos beginning Thursday to attend the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit where improving connectivity and expanding digital public infrastructure are expected to be the key issues on the table. Modi's visit also commemorates 10 years of the Act East Policy that has seen India build convergences with ASEAN's own outlook for the Indo-Pacific region that has seen China's expansive activities in the South China Sea. Modi is also expected to meet the newly appointed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who will be attending the East Asia Summit his first overseas visit since assuming office on October 1. Territorial tensions in the South China Sea and the civil war in Myanmar will also be on the table. ASEAN has proposed a peace plan that calls for a ceasefire and mediation among the warring factions in Myanmar. Briefing the media about the prime minister's visit, Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) in the External .
Southeast Asian leaders gathered in the capital of Laos on Wednesday for an annual regional forum that will focus on tackling the prolonged civil war in Myanmar and territorial tensions in the South China Sea. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit will also be followed by meetings with global powers including China, the US and Russia, which are contending for influence in the region. The timing of the meetings in Vientiane makes it likely that talks will also touch on the escalation of violence in the Middle East, although Southeast Asia has faced only indirect fallout. ASEAN's influence has historically been limited even among its own members, but the forum has often served as a platform for dialogues among superpowers looking to engage with the region. The 10 member states of ASEAN Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos will also hold talks with their dialogue partners from elsewhere in the region including
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Laos on October 10 and 11 during which he will attend the 21st ASEAN-India Summit and the 19th East Asia Summit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday. Laos is the current chair of ASEAN. On the invitation of his Laos counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister Modi will visit Vientiane on October 10-11, the MEA said in a statement. During the visit, Modi will attend the 21st ASEAN-India Summit and the 19th East Asia Summit being hosted by Laos as the current chair of ASEAN, it said. Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings on the margins of the two summits, according to the MEA. "India is marking a decade of the Act East Policy this year. Relations with ASEAN are a central pillar of the Act East Policy and our Indo-Pacific vision," the MEA said. The ASEAN-India Summit will review the progress of India-ASEAN relations through "our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" and chart the future direct
Southeast Asian economies are gaining ground as tourism and exports recover from the shocks of the pandemic, but geopolitical tensions and volatile commodity prices still pose serious risks, regional financial leaders said on Friday. Laos' Finance Minister Santiphab Phomvihane read out a joint statement following meetings among finance ministers at a hotel in the Laotian city of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO heritage site, but he made no other remarks and took no questions. Estimates for economic growth in members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations vary but are generally near a robust 5 per cent for 2024. Nevertheless, there are still challenges due to adverse financial spillovers from geopolitical tensions, volatility in global commodity prices, Phomvihane said, also pointing to climate change, aging populations and rapid development of digitalization as key factors for the region. He did not elaborate, but the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and tensions betwee
Simmering tensions in the South China Sea between China and several Southeast Asian nations now regularly spark direct confrontation. Fighting in Myanmar against the military government that seized power three years ago has grown to the point that most say the country is now in a civil war. Hopes were high that Indonesia might be able to make significant inroads on both issues during its 2023 chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, using its clout as the bloc's largest country, but little progress was made. Now Laos, the bloc's poorest and one of its smallest countries, has taken over the rotating chair. As foreign ministers gather in Luang Prabang for this year's first top-level meetings over the weekend, many are pessimistic that ASEAN can keep its biggest challenges from festering and growing. There were so many expectations when Indonesia started its presidency and some of those expectations fell short, said Shafiah Muhibat, an expert with the Centre for ...