Modi’s Vietnam-China Trip: 1 Week, 3 Summits Including G-20

Starting Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-nation tour to Vietnam and China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the G-20 Summit on 4-5 September. (Photo: AP)

Beginning Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-nation tour to Vietnam and China.

The Visit to Vietnam

During the first part of the visit, Modi will be visiting Vietnamese capital Hanoi where he will be meeting President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The proposed agenda of the meeting is to discuss a wide range of issues with top leaders to strengthen ties between the nations in the areas of defence, trade, security and oil exploration.

In a media interaction on Thursday, Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) of the External Affairs Ministry said, “Vietnam is India’s important strategic partner and the visit is aimed at further strengthening bilateral ties, including defence, security and trade.”

With reference to the meeting, Modi said that it would further strengthen relations between the two countries. He said, “We wish to forge a strong economic relationship with Vietnam that can mutually benefit our citizens. Strengthening the people-to-people ties will also be my endeavour during the Vietnam visit” in a facebook post.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam with PM Narendra Modi. (Photo: Reuters)

The G-20 Summit

Following the meeting, the Prime Minister will leave for Hangzhou, China on 3 September to attend the G-20 summit on 4-5 September.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the lead speaker in a session on inclusive and interconnected development.

Modi is looking forward to a ‘productive’ and ‘outcome-oriented’ meeting with world leaders during the G-20 summit.

We will discuss putting the global economy on the track of sustainable steady growth and responding to emerging and entrenched social, security and economic challenges. India will engage constructively on all the issues before us and work towards finding solutions and taking forward the agenda for a robust, inclusive and sustainable international economic order that uplifts the socio-economic conditions of people across the world, especially those who need it most in developing countries.

Narendra Modi

Bilateral Talks with China

Along with the summit, the Prime Minister will also hold bilateral talks with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. Prior to this, the leaders had met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent.

File photo of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Photo: Reuters)

During that meeting India had urged China to carry a fair assessment of its merit vis-a-vis the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

As per reports published in China’s Global Times, Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi may use his earlier visit to India on 12 August to acquire a holistic perspective on the prospective talks between the two leaders.

The report also adds that Beijing is monitoring Modi’s visit rather closely because Hanoi is a party in the SCS dispute. Hanoi has also staked a maritime and rich energy resource to claim its stake on water.

BRICS Leaders’ Meet

The Prime Minister will also attend a BRICS leaders’ meet before returning to India on 5 September. He will leave for Laos on 7 September to attend the annual India-ASEAN and East Asia summits.

The Prime Minister will attend the BRICS leaders’ meet on 5 September. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The agenda of the meeting will be to review ASEAN-India cooperation and discuss a gamut of issues including economic, socio-cultural cooperation and political security among other issues of mutual benefit.

(With inputs from The Indian Express and PTI)

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