Ahead of his two-nation tour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his visit to Malaysia is aimed at building on trade ties with East Asian nations while the trip to Singapore will focus on attracting investments to India.
"I will be travelling to Malaysia and Singapore for a four-day visit," he said about the visit starting Saturday.
In Malaysia, Modi will be attending the ASEAN-India Summit on November 21 and the 10th East Asia Summit the next day, besides holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Razak and some other world leaders who would be attending the Summits.
He said the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits are being held at a critical juncture and "together, we will discuss the pressing security issues. The looming threat of terror and the prevailing situation in West Asia will also be a part of the discussions."
In Singapore, he will hold deliberations with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on ways to enhance bilateral ties on the occasion of commemoration of 50th anniversary of our diplomatic ties.
"My visits to Malaysia and Singapore are aimed at making our economic ties with these nations stronger and to also strengthen the security cooperation between us," Modi said in a series of Facebook posts.
Talking about Malaysia, the Prime Minister said it is "at the core of our 'Act East Policy'."
"India's partnership with ASEAN nations has gathered immense momentum over the years... We want to further scale up our trade and economic ties. I will expand on the need for closer economic cooperation and investment opportunities in India at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit..," he said.
"The ASEAN nations have welcomed India's 'Act East Policy' and we in India are extremely enthusiastic to have better relations with the ASEAN family in areas such as defence, security and cultural ties. Robust India-ASEAN ties will give great impetus to our collective dream of making this century an 'Asian Century'," Modi said.
With regard to the East Asia Summit, he said India attaches a lot of importance to it.
