PM Modi to visit Indonesia today to attend ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leaving for Jakarta, Indonesia, today (September 6) evening. He is visiting the country at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo.

During his visit, PM Modi is expected to attend the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit being hosted by Indonesia as the current Chair of ASEAN ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations). In a special gesture towards PM Modi, Indonesia rearranged the summit schedules to allow his early departure as he will be back on Thursday (September 7) owing to his tight schedule.

This year's ASEAN-India Summit will be the first Summit since the elevation of India-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. The Summit will review the progress of India-ASEAN relations and will also set the future direction for the cooperation between them, said Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a release.

The ASEAN Summit chaired by Indonesia will be hosted under the theme "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth." This theme indicates that Indonesia expects the ASEAN to be relevant and significant as the centre of economic growth, reported the news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, the East Asia Summit would provide an opportunity for leaders of ASEAN countries and its eight dialogue partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States), to exchange views on issues of regional and global significance.

Previously, in August, ASEAN-India Economic Ministers met in Indonesia, and the main agenda of this year's meeting was the timely review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), signed in 2009. Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary at the Department of Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, represented India at the 20th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers' meeting and co-chaired the meeting with Dr Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Trade, Indonesia.

The Economic Ministers or their representatives from all the 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) participated in the August meeting. 

With a focus on enhancing cooperation in trade and investment sectors as well as security and defence, relations between India and ASEAN have seen a significant improvement over the past few years.

Also watch: G20 New Delhi: A look back at the major alliances India has joined over the years