Kuala Lumpur, October 26 (IANS). External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar met his counterparts from Singapore and Thailand on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit on Sunday.
During the meeting, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan discussed opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Jaishankar gave information about the meeting by posting on the social media platform ‘X’. “It was a pleasure to meet Foreign Minister of Singapore Vivian Bala. Had a very useful exchange on the global and regional landscape, as well as discussed opportunities to strengthen India-Singapore cooperation,” he wrote.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar met his Thai counterpart Sihasak Phuangketkeo in Kuala Lumpur and said they looked forward to taking forward the strategic partnership between the two countries.
“First meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeo in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Looking forward to working together to advance our strategic partnership,” he posted on X.
Earlier, Jaishankar met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and expressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s good wishes for a successful ASEAN summit.
He posted, “Honored to meet Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim. Conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s good wishes for the success of the ASEAN Summit. Appreciate his views on our bilateral cooperation and strengthening people-to-people ties.”
As Chair of ASEAN, Malaysia is hosting the 47th ASEAN Summit and related summits on the theme of ‘Inclusivity and Sustainability’ in Kuala Lumpur from 26-28 October.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar also met his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Malaysia and discussed cooperation in automotive, electronics, semiconductor, defense and shipbuilding.
Regarding the meeting, he wrote, “On the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Malaysia, pleased to meet Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea Cho Hyun. Appreciate the deepening of our Special Strategic Partnership. Discussed cooperation in automotive, electronics, semiconductor, defense and shipbuilding.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi on Sunday participated in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India summit virtually. He said cooperation between India and ASEAN in the fields of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), maritime security and blue economy is growing rapidly, and declared 2026 as the ‘ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation’.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, who is currently on a visit to Malaysia, will represent Prime Minister Modi at the 20th East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, “The East Asia Summit will provide an opportunity to deliberate on challenges to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and exchange views on regional and international developments.”
–IANS
SCH/DKP
