Starting today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel on official duties to Brunei and Singapore.
On September 3–4, the prime minister will travel to Brunei at Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah's invitation to deepen bilateral cooperation across all current areas.
The Indian prime minister is making his first trip there on a bilateral basis. Today is the 40th anniversary of Brunei and India's diplomatic relations' founding.
Jaideep Mazumdar, secretary of state for external affairs, stated that during Modi's visit to Brunei, the prime minister will have bilateral talks with the country's leaders about all facets of their cooperation and relationship.
ANI quoted Mazumdar as saying, “As you know, we share a very warm and friendly relationship with Brunei and our engagements cover multiple areas such as defence, trade and investment, energy, space, technology, health, capacity, building, culture and vibrant people-to-people exchanges."
He added, "The Indian diaspora in Brunei is about 14,000 and they comprise a substantial number of doctors and teachers in Brunei who have earned goodwill and respect for their contributions to Brunei economy and society."
The MEA official went on to say that Brunei is a crucial ally for India's "Act East Policy" and the Indo-Pacific vision. The MEA official added, "As we mark a decade of our Act East policy this year, the visit assumes additional significance. Brunei has been our Country Coordinator in ASEAN from 2012 to 2015 and played a key role in our further engagements with ASEAN and continues to do so today."
On September 4–5, PM Modi will travel to Singapore at the invitation of his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong, following his visit to Brunei. It is his first trip back to the nation in almost six years. The Prime Minister will meet with Singaporean officials and pay a visit to H.E. Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the President of Singapore. The Ministry of External Affairs released a statement stating that the Prime Minister will also meet with Singaporean business leaders.
