Prime Minister Modi will participate in the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit
India attaches great importance to all ASEAN-related mechanisms, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Laos on October 10-11, 2024 to attend the 21st ASEAN-India Summit and the 19th East Asia Summit.
 
The two summits being held in Vientiane also mark the 10th anniversary of India’s Act East Policy announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 
Addressing a special media briefing in New Delhi on Wednesday (October 9, 2024), MEA Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar said, “We attach great significance to all ASEAN-related mechanisms. This will be Prime Minister Modi’s 10th attendance at the ASEAN-India Summit”. Prime Minister Modi attended the ASEAN-India summit in Jakarta, Indonesia last year, days before New Delhi was to host the 2023 G20 Summit, the MEA Secretary added.
 
Prime Minister Modi, along with other heads of state of ASEAN nations, will review the progress in the relations between India and ASEAN and will chart the future direction of the relationship, Mazumdar. He said that India would be expressing its support for this year’s theme for the ASEAN-India Summit, which is ‘Connectivity and Resilience’.
 
On 10 Years of India’s Act East Policy, Secretary Mazumdar said there were many facets of the relationship which had grown unrecognizably from what they were a decade ago. “There has been a qualitive and transformative development in our relations, both with the ASEAN region and with the larger region,” he noted, adding that India’s engagement with the region was ongoing and intense.
 
Situation in Myanmar to be Discussed
The situation in Myanmar is expected to come up during the East Asia Summit. Responding to a specific query, Mazumdar said, “Our position is very supportive of the ASEAN’s 5-point consensus. Our basic position which we have consistently held is that dialogue is the only way out, violence is no solution. We encourage all parties to sit down and discuss issues between them”.
 
In response to a separate question, the MEA Secretary said the trilateral India-Myanmar-Thailand highway was a very important aspect of India’s connectivity the ASEAN nations and would come up during interventions by India at the two summits.
 
In addition to taking part in the two summits, Prime Minister Modi will have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Lao PDR, the MEA Secretary said. The two countries have a strong bilateral cooperation when it comes to areas like the restoration of archeological sites, capacity building, Information Technology, quick impact projects, and power transmission projects, he pointed out. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to have other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the two summits.