PM Narendra Modi has a series of high-profile meetings lined up in Singapore. (PTI)
Highlights
- PM Modi has a series of high-profile meetings in Singapore
- He gave keynote address at Singapore Fintech Summit
- PM Modi in Singapore for East Asia Summit, an ASEAN-India informal meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US vice president Mike Pence, who met in Singapore today, discussed countering terrorism. PM Modi said that the mainstreaming of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan should be a matter of serious concern not just to India and the US but to the international community. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit. PM Modi, who reached Singapore early Wednesday morning, has a series of high-profile meetings lined up in the island nation. PM Modi is on a two-day visit during which he will attend the East Asia Summit, an ASEAN-India informal meet.
Here is your 10-point cheatsheet to PM Narendra Modi's visit to Singapore:
Mr Pence referred to the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26 and praised co-operation between the two countries in fighting terrorism, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said. They also discussed trade and defence co-operation.
PM Modi reminded him that in one way or other all the traces and all leads in the global terror attacks ultimately leads to a "single source and single place of origin", without naming any country or organisation. "He did point out that the mainstreaming of people involved in the Mumbai attacks in a political process which has taken place in the recent elections in Pakistan should be a matter of serious concern and not to just the two countries which is India and US but to international community," Mr Gokhale said.
The meeting between PM Modi and Mr Pence comes weeks after US president Donald Trump turned down PM Modi's invite to India's Republic Day as chief guest due to "scheduling constraints". There have been much speculations about the India-US ties over India's defence purchases from Russia and oil imports from Iran.
PM Modi began his day by attending the Singapore Fintech Summit where he urged start-ups to invest in India. "I say this to all the fintech companies and start-ups, India is your best destination," he said. PM Modi is the first head of government to deliver the keynote address at the event, one of the largest events on financial technology.
"Financial inclusion has become a reality for 1.3 billion Indians," PM Modi said. He said India has generated more than 1.2 billion Aadhaar biometric identities in just a few years. He said more than a billion biometric identities, bank accounts and cell phones give India the biggest public infrastructure in the world.
Before leaving for Singapore, PM Modi said in New Delhi that his participation in the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits symbolised India's "continued commitment" to strengthen its engagement with ASEAN members and with the wider Indo-Pacific region.
PM Modi held bilateral talks with Singapore prime minister Lee Hsein Loong and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison.
The prime minister will also interact with the participants and winners of the joint India-Singapore Hackathon.
As strategic partners, India and ASEAN enjoy close trade and economic relations.In January, India hosted ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. All 10 ASEAN leaders had attended the Republic Day celebrations.
The East Asia Summit is a premier leaders-led forum in the Indo-Pacific Region comprising of the 10 ASEAN member nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam) and its eight dialogue partners - India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Russia.
(With inputs from PTI)
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