New Delhi: India's PM Narendra Modi, who is engaged in a new effort to improve his relations with South East Asian countries, will leave for a three-day visit to Brunei and Singapore on Tuesday. PM Modi will hold discussions with both of them to strengthen India's relations in the defense, energy and technology sectors.

PM Modi will be in Singapore on 04-05 September and during this time two important agreements are expected to be signed between India and Singapore in the field of semiconductor manufacturing and digital payment. Secretary (former) in the Ministry of External Affairs Jaideep Mazumdar says that the relationship between India and Singapore is ready for a big expansion.

Brunei's focus is on defense sector

There are talks of some important announcements during PM Modi's visit. India is looking at the possibilities of increasing cooperation with Brunei in the energy and defense sector. Brunei has started paying more attention to the defense sector in recent years and has also sent a message to India for close cooperation. Majumdar has said that talks are also going on between the two countries regarding the formation of a working group in the defense sector. This will prove to be a direction-giving force for defense relations.

India also buys crude oil from Brunei. Possibility of cooperation between the two countries is also being explored in the oil exploration sector. PM will be in Singapore on Wednesday and Thursday where he will hold talks with PM Lawrence Wong.

This will be the Indian PM's visit to Singapore after almost six years. By visiting Singapore at the beginning of his third term, PM Modi is indicating to further strengthen the relations between the two countries. Majumdar said that in the last few years, relations between India and Singapore have strengthened in every field.

Cooperation in the defense sector is constantly increasing. Economic relations are also getting stronger. Just a week ago, the India-Singapore ministerial meeting was held in which the Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, Industry and Commerce Minister and IT and Electronics Minister of the Modi Cabinet went to Singapore to participate.

Consensus reached on digitisation and advanced manufacturing

India does not hold such a government-level meeting with any other country. Majumdar said, "Some new areas of future cooperation have been identified in this meeting. Digitalization and advanced manufacturing are two such areas where there is agreement on the immense possibilities of cooperation.

The growth that has been seen in the relations between India and Singapore in the last 10-15 years is now set to move even further.''Given China's increasingly aggressive attitude in South East Asia, the situation in this region is considered very serious at the global level.

Especially the way China has been clearly refusing to accept the global order in the South China Sea, most of the countries have expressed their disagreement on the global platform. In such a situation, India's contact with the countries of this region is also increasing continuously.

In recent times, the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Vietnam have visited India. After this visit of PM Modi, he is likely to visit Laos next month in October where the ASEAN summit is to be held. A separate meeting of PM Modi with ASEAN heads is possible there. In July 2024, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting.