Modi backs rules-based security net

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 14

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chatted informally with Chinese premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Manila. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to attend the Russia-India-China meeting in New Delhi on December 11, followed by the India-China Special Representatives’ talks on boundary.

The brief chat came on the day Modi held formal talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and a day after Modi’s talks with US President Donald Trump. The White House, in its official release, said: “They pledged to enhance cooperation as major defence partners, resolving that two of the world’s great democracies should also have the world’s greatest militaries.”

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Economic cooperation, dedicated freight corridor, bullet train and Asia-Africa growth corridor connectivity project were the main focus of the Modi-Abe talks.

Connectivity, counter-terrorism, nuclear proliferation, blue economy, free navigation in Indo-Pacific region and respect for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) were key issues in the ASEAN meetings today.

Addressing the 15th ASEAN-India Summit, Modi said: “India assures its steady support towards achieving a rules-based regional security architecture that best attests to the region’s interests and its peaceful development.”

“We have strived very hard to fight terrorism and violent extremism. It is time we jointly address this challenge by intensifying cooperation,” he said. The PM also held a series of bilateral meetings with PMs of Australia Malcom Turnbull, Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc and New Zealand Jacinda Arden. 

He also invited leaders of all 10 ASEAN member states to be the collective chief guests at the Republic Day celebrations.