Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 13th East Asia Summit in Singapore, last week, where leaders of the group discussed global and regional issues, including maritime cooperation. It was Modi's 5th East Asia Summit. India has been participating in the East Asia Summit since its inception in 2005. Members of East Asia Summit consists of 10 ASEAN nations (Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos), Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US. The Summit was formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity.
Modi interacted with leaders of other countries, including his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, before the East Asia Summit Retreat. Earlier, he had also participated in the ASEAN-India Breakfast Summit where he underlined the need for maritime cooperation and centrality of trade for the prosperity of the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
Prime Minister Modi began his two-day visit to Singapore by delivering his keynote address at the prestigious Fintech Festival. He held separate bilateral meetings with US Vice President Mike Pence and the premiers of Singapore, Australia and Thailand and discussed ways to further strengthen ties, including in areas of trade, defence and security.
During his meeting with Pence, he shared India's “serious concern” at the “mainstreaming” of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who carries a $10 million bounty, in Pakistan's recent elections. Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said Modi reminded the US Vice President that “in one way or other, all the traces or all the leads in global terror attacks ultimately lead to a single source, a single place of origin.” He added that Modi also pointed out, “The mainstreaming of the people involved in Mumbai terror attacks in a political process, which had taken place in a recent election in Pakistan, should be a matter of serious concern not just to the two countries, that is, India and the US, but to the international community.”
The Indian PM also urged Pence to consider India as a manufacturing base for defence equipment, and develop it as a hub for exports in the regional market. He stressed that there was a great opportunity for the US for setting up defence industry in India. Gokhale said, “Not only is India a substantial market, but because of the way we are placed regionally, we can become a hub for exports to the rest of the region. So he conveyed to Vice President Pence that he hoped the Trump administration would recognise this as a new opportunity, as a new economic opportunity as well.”
Modi also met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Calling it a “very good meeting”, the PMO tweeted, “Subjects pertaining to India-Singapore relations, particularly trade and people-to-people ties were discussed during the meeting.” Also, he held a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. ”
At Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF), the world's largest event on financial technology, Modi said his government launched Jan Dhan Yojana through Aadhaar and cellphones, and opened 330 million new bank accounts in three years. “There are 330 million sources of identity, dignity and opportunities. Less than 50 per cent of Indian had bank accounts in 2014. Now, it is nearly universal. So today, more than a billion biometric identities, more than a billion bank accounts and more than a billion cell phones give India by far the biggest public infrastructure in the world.”
