Narendra Modi meets Scott Morrison in Singapore; leaders discuss bilateral ties in areas of trade, defence

Singapore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held talks Wednesday and discussed ways to further deepen the bilateral ties, including in areas of trade, defence and security. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Sinagpore, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar said. [caption id=“attachment_5549291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi met Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. Twitter/@PIB_India[/caption] “PM Narendra Modi met with PM of Australia Scott Morrison on the margins of East Asia Summit in Singapore. Both leaders had a good discussion on deepening ties in trade and investment, defence and security and other areas of bilateral cooperation,” Kumar said. “A fruitful meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Scott Morrison in Singapore earlier today,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a tweet. Modi began his two-day visit to Singapore on Wednesday by delivering his keynote address at the prestigious Fintech Festival. He became the first head of government to address the world’s largest event on financial technology. The prime minister also held bilateral meetings with global leaders, including US Vice President Pence and Singapore premier Lee Hsein Loong. During his visit, Modi will attend the East Asia Summit, an ASEAN-India informal meet, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership summit. Before leaving for Singapore, Modi said in New Delhi that his participation in the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits symbolised India’s “continued commitment” to strengthen its engagement with ASEAN members and with the wider Indo-Pacific region. Modi also said he was confident that his visit to Singapore would impart fresh momentum to New Delhi’s growing partnership with ASEAN and East Asia Summit nations. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising ten Southeast Asian countries, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration among its members and other Asian states.