New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will embark on a week-long visit to Indonesia and Thailand beginning on Wednesday to attend a meeting of foreign ministers, a release from the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.
In the first leg of his visit, the EAM will reach Indonesia to attend Foreign Ministers’ Meetings under the ASEAN on July 13-14 and then he will go to Thailand for the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC), the release said.
During his visit to Jakarta, Jaishankar will meet his counterparts under the ASEAN framework in the format - ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum over two days beginning Thursday. He will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other countries, an External Affairs Ministry statement said.
According to the statement, "India’s engagement with this ASEAN centered regional architecture signifies India’s strong commitment to ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific."
After Jakarta, Jaishankar will travel to Bangkok to participate in the 12th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Mechanism on Sunday. "MGC, one of the oldest mechanisms of the lower Mekong region, is guided by India's Act East Policy," the External Affairs Ministry said.
Notably, the MGC is an initiative by India, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to facilitate closer connections between the six member countries which share the Ganga River and Mekong River basins.
In Bangkok, Jaishankar will also attend the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers' Retreat on July 17.
"BIMSTEC is an economic and technical initiative which brings together the countries of Bay of Bengal for multifaceted cooperation. The retreat would discuss ways to further deepen the BIMSTEC agenda and strengthen the organisation," it said.
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar met with Canadian Member of Parliament Chandrakanth Arya. Both leaders discussed Canada-India relations. Arya requested EAM to expedite the Early Progress Trade Agreement between Canada and India.
“Glad to meet Chandrakanth Arya, Member of Parliament, Canada. Value his contribution to building a stronger relationship between India and Canada,” EAM Jaishankar wrote on Twitter.
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