Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh concluded four-day visit to Brunei and Indonesia

The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh on 12 October 2013 concluded his four-day visit to Brunei and Indonesia. Prime Minister visit to Brunei and Indonesia is a part of expanding India’s ‘Look East’ policy to beyond economic ties.

• Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh paid an official visit to Brunei Darussalam from 9-11 October 2013 to attend the 11th ASEAN-India Summit and 8th East Asia Summit.
• Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh paid a State Visit to Indonesia from 10-12 October, 2013.

Highlights of the visit

1. Dr. Manmohan Singh held bilateral meetings with Prime Ministers of Asian superpowers like Japan and Australia as well on the sidelines of ASEAN and East Asia Summits in Brunei.

2. Prime Minister also announced a separate mission for ASEAN, a 10-member block of South East Asian nations, with a full time ambassador.

3. Dr. Manmohan Singh also stated that a Free Trade Agreement on services and investments would be signed with ASEAN by end of 2013 to help meet India-ASEAN trade to 100 billion Dollars by 2015.

4. During the first official bilateral visit to Indonesia, six pacts were signed between India and Indonesia including in areas like health, anti-corruption, narcotics, disaster management and academics.

5. Both the countries, India and Indonesia agreed to expand their strategic partnership by holding annual summits and an eminent persons group will be set up to expand the relationship. New areas of co-operation have been identified such as space, nuclear energy, food, security, counter-terrorism, trans-border threats from jehadi forces.