Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be on a week-long visit to Indonesia and Thailand starting Wednesday for meetings with counterparts from the ASEAN and BIMSTEC groups.
During his visit to Indonesia, Jaishankar will meet his counterparts in the ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum formats under the ASEAN framework over two days starting Thursday. He will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other countries, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said.
It added, “India’s engagement with this ASEAN-centric regional architecture reflects India’s strong commitment to the centrality of ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific.” After Jakarta, Jaishankar will travel to Bangkok on Sunday to attend the 12th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Mechanism.
The Ministry of External Affairs, said the MGC, one of the oldest mechanisms in the lower Mekong region, is guided by India’s Act East policy. The MGC is an initiative of India, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to facilitate closer ties between the six member states that share the Ganges River and Mekong River basins.
In Bangkok, Jaishankar will also attend the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat on July 17. BIMSTEC is an economic and technological initiative that brings together the Bay of Bengal countries for multidimensional cooperation. The retreat will discuss ways to further deepen the BIMSTEC agenda and strengthen the organisation. More about this source texture text required for additional translation information
