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PM to visit Singapore tomorrow for East Asia Summit, ASEAN, Fintech

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Singapore on November 14 and 15 to attend the 13th East Asia Summit, with which India has been associated since its inception in 2005. Asia-Pacific leaders will join the heads of Southeast Asian states this week in Singapore to renew calls for multilateralism and fresh pledges to resolve regional conflicts ranging from the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar to tensions in the South China Sea.

However, it is unclear whether Rohingya repatriation would be discussed in the ASEAN-India Summit. US Vice President Mike Pence will attend the summit on behalf of President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are also expected to join the leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

PM Modi will have a chance to meet all these leaders in the Retreat programme of the first day of the summit.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, hinted that since the Prime Minister is likely to have a meeting with some of the leaders in the upcoming G-20 meeting, therefore, meeting with some of the leaders on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit might not happen.

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to attend the Singapore meetings this week, while Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, attending his first multilateral summit since returning to power in May, has served notice that he has lost faith in the Nobel peace laureate over the Rohingya issue.

The Rohingya crisis is one of the biggest man-made disasters involving a member state since ASEAN was founded in 1967, and it is one of the thorniest issues yet faced by the group that traditionally works by consensus.

At a media briefing on Monday, Secretary (East) Ministry of External Affairs, Vijay Thakur Singh, said Prime Minister Modi, on his second visit to Singapore since June this year when he had delivered key note address at the Shangri La dialogue, will also participate in a number of other events during his 36-hour visit.

On the day of his arrival on November 14, Modi will have a meeting with the US Vice-President. Singh said the Prime Minister would also deliver a keynote address at the third edition of the Singapore Fintech Summit. "About 30,000 people will attend this summit, which is about financial technologies and it will be an honour for India as the country's head of the government will give the keynote address. It is also a recognition for India's strides made in financial technologies to ensure inclusive development,'' she told mediapersons.

The annual ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit is also being held in Singapore. The ASEAN-India summit was last held in January in New Delhi when leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries, in a first, attended the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi. The Delhi Declaration was also adopted during the last summit. Singapore is the current chairman of ASEAN grouping. Modi is also scheduled to have a meeting with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.

"As India vigorously pursues an active Act East policy, ASEAN Summit is important for India as we have recently completed 25 years of dialogue partnership with the grouping,'' Singh said. ASEAN nations represent an economy worth $5 trillion and a combined population of nearly 1.9 billion. Both the summits are taking place in the backdrop of US-China trade tensions, making discussions among leaders crucial on how to best integrate regional economies and forge closer trade links.

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries are also meeting in Singapore during the same period. "India has had a very constructive and positive approach towards RCEP. The grouping controls nearly 40 per cent of the global trade,'' Singh added.

"Prime Minister Modi will also have bilateral meetings with a number of leaders and we are working on scheduling them,'' she said. Modi will also meet the participants of India-Singapore Hackathon, where 80 contestants from each nations will participate.

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