Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah. (File)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the first-ever Indian PM to visit Brunei when he travels to the country on September 3 and 4 for a bilateral visit. This is being seen as a significant step in bolstering ties between the two nations.
"PM Modi at the invitation of His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is scheduled to visit Brunei during September 3-4. This will be the first ever bilateral visit by an Indian PM to Brunei," the Ministry of External Affairs said at the special briefing about the Prime Minister's visit.
Prime Minister Modi's visit coincides with 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Brunei.
PM Modi was earlier scheduled to attend the sixth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) - scheduled to take place in Bangkok on September 3, 4 - which was postponed last week due to the formation of the new government in the country.
PM Modi's visit to Brunei comes almost ten years after his first meeting with the Sultan of Hassanal Bolkiah in November 2014 on the sidelines of 25th ASEAN Summit in Myanmar. They met again during the 2017 East Asia Summit held in the Philippines.
In July, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met his Brunei counterpart in Laos on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings. To celebrate the 40 years of diplomatic relations, the two also launched a logo together.
PM Modi's visit will focus on enhancing trade ties, and bolster cooperation in the space and defence sectors. India already has multiple agreements with Brunei in the space sector and also has a telemetry station in the country. The PM's visit will help strengthen cooperation in this regard, the MEA said.
India and Brunei also look to enhance ties in energy security in terms of crude oil and hydrocarbons.
Currently India imports $270 million worth of crude oil from Brunei. Brunei has also played a key role in bringing India closer to ASEAN being the Country Coordinator for India from 2012 till 2015. Brunei has been supportive of India's 'Act East Policy'.
On defence, the MEA said, "We are still in discussions with Brunei to set up a joint working group on defence."
Indian naval and coast guard ships have regularly visited Brunei and two Indian defence companies - Bharat Electronics Ltd and MKU Limited - participated in the Defence Industry Exposition organised by Brunei Armed Forces in June 2024 for the first time. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah visited the Indian stalls during the expo and appreciated the Indian companies' participation.
As per the MEA, there are currently around 14,500 Indians living in Brunei Darussalam out of the total population of about 450,500 with more than half of the Indian expatriates being semi and unskilled workers, who work in oil and gas industries construction, retail businesses.