Singapore Foreign Minister meets Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj being greeted by Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan before the group photograph with other ASEAN leaders during the 10th edition of the 'Delhi Dialogue', in New Delhi. Pic/PTI

Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan on Thursday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar took to Twitter and said, 'Taking forward India-Singapore strategic partnership. Foreign Minister of Singapore @VivianBala met EAM @SushmaSwaraj on the sidelines of the #DelhiDialogue10 in New Delhi. Strengthening bilateral cooperation was the focus of discussion.' Earlier in the day, Swaraj hosted the 10th edition of the Delhi Dialogue (DD X) in the national capital.

The theme of this year's DD X will be "Strengthening India-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation." Delhi Dialogue is a premier annual event to discuss politico-security, the economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as per a release by the MEA. This was the first major event to be organised after the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, which was held in New Delhi earlier in January this year. DD X is being organised in partnership with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). Political leadership, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders, think-tanks and academicians from India and ASEAN member states participated in the discussion.

Meanwhile, chief ministers from the North-Eastern states are also invited to participate in the event. Dignitaries from ASEAN member states include - Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohammad, Minister of Communications of Brunei, A.M. Fachir, Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Thongphane Savanphet, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos, Kyaw Tin, Minister for International Cooperation of Myanmar, Vivian Balakrishnan, Foreign Minister of Singapore, Chaisiri Anamarn, Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Advisor to Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Nguyen Quoc Dzung, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and Hoang Ahn Tuan, Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs, ASEAN Secretariat. Furthermore, twenty media persons from ASEAN, who have travelled to India under the ASEAN-India Media Exchange Programme, also attended DD X. Spread over a period of two days, DD X will comprise of six plenary and four parallel sessions, with each session followed by open discussions.

The sessions on the first day discussed on - Role of North East in Act East, Forging Connectivity with ASEAN, Strengthening Socio-Cultural Links and India-ASEAN Partnership and Emerging Global Order. In the second-day session, there will be discussions on - Maritime Cooperation: A New Framework for India-ASEAN Partnership, Development Cooperation and ASEAN-India Trade, Investment and Technology. The four parallel sessions will discuss - Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Regional Development, e-Commerce and Digital Connectivity, Tourism Cooperation and Building Smart Cities.

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