New Delhi, Nov 18: Shoring up efforts to combat terrorism and enhancing economic engagement will be the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he addresses two powerful regional blocs at the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits during his tree-day visit to Kuala Lumpur beginning Saturday.
Modi will also hold talks with top leadership of Malaysia on ways to ramp up bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including defence and security and take the strategic ties to a new level.
The two sides are likely to sign a number of MoUs.
The ASEAN is considered one of the world’s fastest growing regions and both sides are likely to seek greater economic engagement besides expanding cooperation in host of other areas such as maritime security and dealing with illicit drug trafficking and cyber crime.
ASEAN is India’s fourth largest trading partner and India in turn is sixth largest trading partner for the bloc. The combined GDP of both sides is USD 2.57 trillion.
On November 21, Modi will attend the 13th ASEAN-India Summit and will address the East Asia Summit the next day.
India and ASEAN countries are also likely to discuss ways to enhance connectivity links. A motor vehicles agreement among India-Myanmar-Thailand has just been finalised and the negotiations for ASEAN-India maritime transport agreement are also underway, he said.
The leaders of East Asia Summit are expected to discuss matters of international concern including terrorism,irregular migration, South China Sea, situation in Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East.
