Fresh impetus to 'Look East policy' at EA Summit
Cebu, Jan 14: India will seek to elevate its engagement with South East Asia and East Asia to qualitatively new levels and give a fresh impetus to its "Look East Policy" at the 5th India-ASEAN Summit and the 2nd East Asia Summt to be held on this central Philippines island over the next two days.
Prime
Minister
Manmohan
Singh
arrived
here
yesterday
night
at
the
head
of
a
high-level
delegation
for
the
summits,
on
the
sidelines
of
which
he
is
also
due
to
hold
bilateral
talks
with
Chinese
Premier
Wen
Jiabao
and
other
leaders.
Dr
Singh
and
his
wife,
Ms
Gursharan
Kaur,
were
received
at
the
Mactan
Cebu
International
Airport
by
senior
Indian
and
Filipino
officials.
Later,
he
drove
to
the
Hotel
Marriott
Cebu
City,
where
he
will
be
staying.
He
had
no
official
engagements
tonight.
The
meeting
with
the
Chinese
leader
tomorrow
assumes
added
significance
in
view
of
the
fact
that
National
Security
Adviser
M
K
Narayanan
and
Chinese
Vice-Premier
Dai
Bingguo,
Special
Representatives
of
the
two
countries,
are
scheduled
to
hold
the
ninth
round
of
their
talks
on
the
boundary
question
next
week
in
Delhi.
The two leaders are expected to give a political impetus to the talks to solve the issue at the earliest. Talking to journalists accompanying the Prime Minister, Mr Narayanan said the two sides had made progress on the boundary question.
India has, in the past, made it clear to China that it should not expect any territorial concessions in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh. India has also made some proposals for opening up the border and institutional cooperation across it. Both sides see an early settlement of the boundary question as a ''strategic objective.''
Apart
from
the
Chinese
Premier,
Dr
Singh
will
have
bilateral
meetings
with
the
Prime
Minister
of
Malaysia
and
the
President
of
Philippines
tomorrow
morning
before
attending
the
India-ASEAN
Summit.
He
will
attend
a
gala
dinner
hosted
by
President
Gloria
Macapagal
Arroyo
of
the
Philippines
tomorrow
night.
The East Asia Summit will be held on Monday. Dr Singh will leave here on Monday afternoon for Kolkata, where he will spend the night before visiting the violence-hit areas of Asom on Tuesday.
In
a
statement
in
New
Delhi
prior
to
his
departure,
Dr
Singh
said
India's
participation
in
both
the
summits
was
a
reflection
of
the
increasing
significance
of
the
''eastern
orientation''
of
India's
foreign
policy
and
its
quest
for
closer
enagement
with
the
countries
of
East
Asia.
The Prime Minister said in the India-ASEAN Summit, he would have an opportunity to review, with leaders of ASEAN countries, the progress that had been achieved over the last year in India's economic dialogue with ASEAN countries. The Prime Minister said he would also have a bilateral meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
External
Affairs
Minister
Pranab
Mukherjee
was
here
during
the
last
two
days
of
the
ministerial
meetings
ahead
of
the
summits
before
leaving
for
a
two-day
visit
to
Pakistan.
Commerce
and
Industry
Minister
Kamal
Nath
has
also
been
in
Cebu
for
the
past
two
days
for
a
meeting
of
the
ASEAN
Economic
Ministers
and
other
preparatory
events
before
the
summits.
UNI