Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a ceremonial welcome on his arrival in Brunei Darussalam.
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived on the Bandar Seri Begawan Airport this afternoon as he started a two-day go to to Brunei Darussalam – the primary ever bilateral journey by an Indian PM to the southeast Asian nation – on the invitation of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.
“As we have fun the 40 years of our diplomatic relations, I look ahead to my conferences with His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and different esteemed members of the Royal household to advance our historic relationship to new heights,” mentioned PM Modi in his departure assertion forward of his go to to Brunei Darussalam and Singapore.
Throughout his go to, the Prime Minister will interact in bilateral discussions specializing in exploring new areas for cooperation in a number of areas like defence, commerce and funding, power, house expertise, well being, capability constructing, tradition and vibrant people-to-people exchanges.
Final month, Exterior Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar had met Erywan Pehin Yusof, Overseas Minister of Brunei on the sidelines of ASEAN conferences in Vientiane and collectively launched the brand celebrating 40 years of diplomatic relations between the 2 nations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Brunei Sultan met for the primary time on the sidelines of twenty fifth ASEAN Summit at Nay Pyi Taw in November 2014. They met as soon as once more in the course of the 2017 East Asia Summit held in Manila.
In January 2018, the Brunei Sultan, together with the ten ASEAN Heads of State and Authorities, visited India for the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. The leaders had been additionally ‘Company of Honour’ at India’s 69th Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2018.
In 2013, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Brunei Darussalam to take part within the eleventh ASEAN-India Summit and the eighth EAS Summit.
Topped because the twenty ninth Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in August 1968, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah undertook his first State Go to to India in September, 1992. His second State Go to to India got here in Might, 2008.
In line with the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA), Brunei Darussalam authorities has been supportive of India’s ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ insurance policies for growth and deepening of cooperation with ASEAN.
“Brunei is a crucial associate for India’s Act East Coverage and our imaginative and prescient for the Indo-Pacific, and as we mark a decade of our ‘Act East’ Coverage this 12 months, the go to assumes extra significance. Brunei has been our nation coordinator in ASEAN from 2012 to 2015 and performed a key function in our additional engagements with ASEAN and continues to take action right this moment,” Jaideep Mazumdar, MEA Secretary (East), mentioned forward of the PM’s landmark go to.
Indian naval and coast guard ships have additionally recurrently visited Brunei and two Indian defence corporations – Bharat Electronics Ltd and MKU Restricted – participated within the Defence Business Exposition organised by Brunei Armed Forces in June 2024 for the primary time. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah visited the Indian stalls in the course of the expo and appreciated the Indian corporations’ participation.
There are presently round 14,500 Indians residing in Brunei Darussalam out of the overall inhabitants of about 450,500 with greater than half of the Indian expatriates being semi and unskilled employees, who work in oil and gasoline industries development, retail companies, and so on. There’s additionally a considerable variety of Indian docs and lecturers working in Brunei.
After Brunei, PM Modi will journey to Singapore – a rustic with which India is exploring enhanced cooperation in digital, talent improvement, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity and superior manufacturing areas.
In his departure assertion on Tuesday, PM Modi mentioned that he’s wanting ahead to assembly Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong apart from the leaders of Singapore’s vibrant enterprise neighborhood.
“I look ahead to my discussions to deepen our Strategic Partnership with Singapore, significantly in new and rising areas of superior manufacturing, digitalization, and sustainable improvement. Each nations are essential companions in our Act East Coverage and the Indo-Pacific Imaginative and prescient. I’m assured that my visits would additional strengthen our partnership with Brunei, Singapore and the bigger ASEAN area,” mentioned Prime Minister Modi.
Final week, Exterior Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Business Minister Piyush Goyal and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw led the Indian delegation on the second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) held in Singapore on Monday.
Throughout their go to, the Indian ministerial delegation additionally collectively known as on Singapore Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong who had led the Singapore delegation for the primary ISMR held in New Delhi in September 2022.
“Glad that progress has been made on a number of fronts since our final assembly. And new concepts for cooperation are being pursued, together with in superior manufacturing and connectivity. These initiatives will pave the way in which for nearer strategic cooperation and partnership between India and Singapore,” the Singapore PM mentioned after his assembly with the visiting Indian ministers on Monday.
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