Sushma Swaraj To Visit South Asia On First Tour Of 2018
To give a further boost to India’s Act East Policy, EAM (External Affairs Minister) Sushma Swaraj will undertake her first visit in the new year to South Asia.
On the EAM’s travel itinerary will be Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia. Swaraj’s South Asia visit will be from 4th-8th January.
On the first leg of this visit, EAM will be in Thailand. She will hold an official meeting with Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, who will also host a dinner in honour of EAM.
As per an official MEA (Ministry Of External Affairs) release, all aspects of Indo-Thai relations will be discussed in the meeting.
There will be a particular focus on political, defence, and economic ties and on further enhancing India's engagement with ASEAN (Association Of South East Asian Nations) countries.
Thailand will assume the role of coordinator country for India-ASEAN relations in the middle of 2018.
In the second leg of her visit, Swaraj will be in Indonesia and will co-chair the 5th meeting of India-Indonesia Joint Commission with her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.
The Ministers will also inaugurate the second meeting of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks. During her visit to the country, Swaraj will also call on the President, Secretary-General of ASEAN.
“As the biggest country in the ASEAN region with the largest economy, Indonesia is an important partner for India including in trade and strategic matters. There has been intensive engagement between the two countries bilaterally, as well as plurilaterally. The Joint Commission meeting and other engagements of EAM will enable the two countries to chart out the course of the partnership during the year 2018,” an MEA statement said.
In the third leg of her visit, Swaraj will visit Singapore where she will inaugurate the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) of ASEAN countries on January 7.
She will have bilateral meetings with the leaders in Singapore and also interactions with PIO (Persons Of Indian Origin) delegations from ASEAN countries, who are participating in the PBD.
“On all three legs of her visit, EAM will share with her interlocutors relevant information about the forthcoming ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit which marks 25 years since the establishment of Dialogue Partnership between Indian and ASEAN,” MEA statement said.
