By Simran Sodhi
New Delhi, September 4. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his Brunei visit, we take a look at the factors that make this a historic visit.
- PM’s historic visit to Brunei is the first bilateral visit by an Indian PM and is in keeping with its commitment to the Act East Policy.
- This year is the 10th anniversary of India’s Act East Policy.
- In this special year of Act East Policy, in the first 100 days of the Govt, there have been incoming visits of PM of Vietnam and PM of Malaysia.
Relations with Vietnam are characterized as Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and those with Malaysia were elevated to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the recent visit of PM of Malaysia to India.
- Visit to Singapore later will further strengthen our commitment to Act East Policy.
- In the first 100 days of the government , President of India travelled to Fiji, New Zealand and Timor Leste. This underlines India’s commitment to the region.
India’s Act East Policy has made significant contribution to India’s economic growth by way of attracting investment flows and expanding trade. In the last 10 years, trade with ASEAN countries has jumped ( almost doubled ) from USD 65 billion in 2015-16 to USD 120 billion in 2023-24. India’s exports grew from : USD 31 billion in 2016-17 to USD 44 billion in 2022-23.
India has also received investment of around USD 160 billion from the ASEAN region.
