PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of ASEAN in Manila.
Highlights
- PM Modi in Philippines to attend ASEAN summit
- Will hold bilateral meetings including with Trump tomorrow
- Japan, Australia, India and US to revive a quadrilateral alliance
Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister since Indira Gandhi to visit Manila, the capital of Philippines, in 36 years. During his trip, he will attend a summit of ASEAN or the Association of South-East Asian Nations, a 10-nation grouping besides India, that's expected to boost trade and defence cooperation. Before a gala dinner on Sunday to mark ASEAN's 50th anniversary, he had one-on-one meetings with US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The US is part of the Quadrilateral - a four-nation alliance including Japan, Australia and India - that is expected to be revived on the sidelines of the summit.
Here are the 10 facts in this big story:
A series of bilaterals are lined up for Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the leaders of the Quadrilateral -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Donald Trump.
Ahead of their scheduled bilateral on Monday, PM Modi had a brief interaction with President Trump. The two leaders had last met in June, when President Trump had hosted the Prime Minister at the White House.
Before leaving for Manila, PM Narendra Modi tweeted that his visit reflects the nation's "commitment to deepening ties with the ASEAN member states and the Indo-Pacific region" as part of India's "Act East Policy".
The Quadrilateral grouping is expected to boost free trade and defence cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region, where US favours a bigger role by India.
There have been concerns over China's growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. The issue was understood to have figured at the meeting of officials from the quadrilateral nations.
After the meeting, the foreign ministry tweeted that the officials had "agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large".
Reacting to the reports of the Quadrilateral meeting, China has said it hoped that the grouping "would not target or damage" a "third party's interest".
At the pre-dinner reception, PM Modi was also seen talking to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
All the leaders were dressed in Barong Tagalong -- an embroidered shirt that's the national dress of the Philippines. The menu included an array of Filipino dishes, including steak sushi.
Trade between India and ASEAN stood at $65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12 per cent of India's total trade with the world. Together, the nations are home to 1.85 billion people - a quarter of the global population.
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