"Working to establish Joint working Group for cooperation in defence": MEA ahead of PM Modi's Brunei visit

This will be the first ever bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Brunei. The visit coincides with 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Brunei.

Addressing a special briefing in the national capital on PM Modi's visit, Secretary East, Ministry of External Affairs, Jaideep Mazumdar said that defence constitutes an important pillar of cooperation between India and Brunei and the two countries are working towards establishing a Joint working Group for cooperation in the defence sector.

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 Lawrence Wong, the Prime Minister of Singapore.

"Let us take the Brunei leg first. 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," Mazumdar said.

Recalling Brunei Sultan's earlier visits to India, he said, "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. (ANI)