SOURCE: ANI
Eastern Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Jaideep Mazumdar on Monday said that the discussion on maritime security will take place with Singaporean leaders during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Singapore.
Speaking at a special briefing ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to Singapore, Mazumdar said the two countries share the same vision on maritime safety and security.
Asked if there will be any discussions on maritime security with the Singaporean leaders, he said: “On maritime safety and security, of course you know what India’s position is on the South China Sea. In Singapore’s case too, it is important that they maintain safe, secure and free maritime communications.”
“So, we have congruence of positions on this and there is no doubt that such issues will be discussed. I cannot say to what extent it will be discussed, but these are issues that are important for all our countries in the region and therefore I have no doubt that they will be discussed,” he added.
Jaideep Mazumdar also said that the situation in the neighbourhood and neighbours always comes up for discussion during bilateral visits. He said that he expects the situation in Myanmar to be discussed during PM Modi’s visit to Brunei and Singapore.
When asked if the issue of the situation in Myanmar will come up during PM Modi’s visit to Singapore and Brunei, Mazumdar said: “As a joint member of ASEAN, for both Singapore and Brunei, these discussions on the region will naturally come up whenever there are bilateral visits. The situation in the neighbourhood and the neighbours always comes up. So I expect this will also come up.”
Giving details about the Prime Minister’s visit to Brunei and Singapore, the MEA official said that PM Modi is travelling to Brunei on the invitation of Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. After this, he will travel to Singapore on September 4 and 5 on the invitation of Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Speaking about PM Modi’s visit to Brunei, Mazumdar said, “This will be the first-ever bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Brunei and it coincides with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between our two countries this year. Some of you may remember that Sultan His Majesty Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid state visits to India in 1992 and 2008 and was also present at the ASEAN India Commemorative Summits in 2012 and 2018. During the latter visit, he was also the Chief Guest for Our Republic Day along with other ASEAN leaders.”
He stressed that the two countries have a “warm and friendly relationship” and that cooperation covers various sectors, including defense, trade and investment, energy, space, technology, health, capacity, construction, culture and people-to-people exchanges.
During the visit, the MEA official said the Prime Minister will hold bilateral discussions on all aspects of our bilateral relations and cooperation with Brunei and will also explore new areas of cooperation.
“As you know, we have a very warm and friendly relationship with Brunei and our engagement spans multiple areas such as defence, trade and investment, energy, space, technology, health, capacity, construction, culture and vibrant people-to-people exchanges. The Indian diaspora in Brunei is about 14,000 and they include a significant number of doctors and teachers in Brunei who have earned goodwill and respect for their contributions to Brunei’s economy and society,” he said.
Stressing on Brunei’s support for India in the space programme, Mazumbdar said, “We have received valuable support from Brunei in our space programme. We have three MoUs with Brunei in this area. We established a telemetry tracking and command station in Brunei in 2000 and it tracks and monitors all our eastern launches of satellites and satellite launch vehicles.”
Mazumdar called Brunei a key partner for India’s Act East Policy and its vision for the Indo Pacific. He stressed that defence is a key pillar of bilateral cooperation, noting that the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2016 and that it was renewed in 2021.
“Defence is another important pillar of our bilateral cooperation. We have an MoU on Defence which was signed in 2016 and has since been renewed in 2021. It provides a framework for our cooperation which includes regular high-level exchanges, exchange visits of naval and coast guard vessels, training and joint exercises and participation in each other’s exhibitions,” Mazumdar said.
“We are also working on setting up a Joint Working Group for defence cooperation. Brunei is a key partner for India’s Act East Policy and our vision for the Indo-Pacific and as we celebrate a decade of our Act East policy this year, the visit assumes added significance. Brunei was our Country Coordinator in ASEAN from 2012 to 2015 and played a key role in our ongoing engagement with ASEAN and continues to do so today,” the MEA official said.