Secretary East, Ministry of External Affairs, Jaideep Mazumdar, said on Monday, that that discussion on the maritime security will be held with Singaporean leadership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Singapore.

While addressing a special briefing ahead of PM Modi’s upcoming visit to Singapore, Mazumdar said that the two nations have congruence of views on maritime security and safety.

Asked whether discussions on maritime security will be held with Singapore leadership, he responded, “On maritime security and safety, ofcourse, you know India’s position on South China Sea. In the case of Singapore as well, it is important for them to maintain sea lines of communication that are safe, secure, free.”

“So, we have congruence of views on that and no doubt such issues will be discussed. I can’t say to what degree, it will be discussed but these are issues that are important for all of our countries in the region and therefore, I have no doubt that they will be discussed,” he added.

Jaideep Mazumdar also said that the situation in the neighbourhood and neighbours always comes up during bilateral visits. He stated that he expects Myanmar situation to be discussed during PM Modi’s visit to Brunei and Singapore.

When asked whether issue of Myanmar situation will come up during PM Modi’s visit to Singapore and Brunei, Mazumdar said, “As common member of ASEAN, for both Singapore and Brunei, these discussions regarding region will of course come up in whenever there are bilateral visits. The situation in the neighbourhood and neighbours always comes up. So, I expect that it will also be discussed.”

Detailing the Prime Minister’s visit to Brunei and to Singapore, the MEA official said that PM Modi is travelling to Brunei at the invitation of Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. Following this, he will travel to Singapore on September 4-5 at the invitation of Singapore PM Lawrence Wong.

Speaking about PM Modi’s visit to Brunei, Mazumdar said, “This will be the first-ever bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Brunei and it coincides with the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between our two countries this year. Some of you may recall that Sultan His Majesty Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid state visits to India in 1992 and in 2008 and he also attended the ASEAN India Commemorative Summits in 2012 and in 2018. In the last visit, he was also Chief Guest for Our Republic Day along with other ASEAN leaders.”

He underscored that the two countries share “warm and friendly relationship” and the engagements cover several sectors, including defence, trade and investment, energy, space, technology, health, capacity, building, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

During the visit, the MEA official said Prime Minister will engage in bilateral discussions on all aspects of our bilateral relations and cooperation with Brunei and also explore new areas for cooperation.

“As you know, we share a very warm and friendly relationship with Brunei and our engagements cover multiple areas such as defence, trade and investment, energy, space, technology, health, capacity, building, culture and vibrant people-to-people exchanges. The Indian diaspora in Brunei is about 14,000 and they comprise a substantial number of doctors and teachers in Brunei who have earned goodwill and respect for their contributions to Brunei economy and society,” he said.

Highlighting Brunei’s support for India in the space program, Mazumbdar said, “We have received valuable support from Brunei in our space program. We have three MoUs with Brunei in this area. We have established a telemetry tracking and command station in Brunei in 2,000 and this tracks and monitors all our eastward launches of satellites and satellite launch vehicles.”

Mazumdar termed Brunei as an important partner for India’s Act East Policy and its vision for the Indo Pacific. Stressing that defence is an important pillar in bilateral cooperation, he noted the two nations signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2016 and it was renewed in 2021

“Defence is another important pillar in our bilateral cooperation. We have an MoU on Defence which was signed in 2016 and has since been renewed in 2021. It provides a framework for our collaboration that covers regular exchanges at high levels, naval and coast guard ship exchange visits, training and joint exercises, and participation in each other’s exhibitions,” Mazumdar said.

“We are also working towards establishing a Joint Working Group for cooperation in the area of defence. Brunei is an important partner for India’s Act East Policy and our vision for the Indo- Pacific and as we mark a decade of our Act East policy this year, the visit assumes additional significance. Brunei has been our Country Coordinator in ASEAN from 2012 to 2015 and played a key role in our further engagements with ASEAN and continues to do so today,” the MEA official said.