MANILA: US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met on the sidelines of a gala dinner to mark the 50th anniversary of the ASEAN. The brief interaction between Modi and Trump came ahead of their scheduled bilateral meeting on Monday.He also held separate pull-aside meetings with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
PM Modi was seen chit-chatting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak too at the reception for the leaders who arrived for the summit. At the same time, he held brief interactions with several other leaders who attended the reception hosted by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at the mega SMX Convention Centre in Pasay City.
The PM, as well as all other leaders, wore Barong Tagalong, an embroidered shirt which is the national dress of the Philippines. Renowned Filipino designer Albert Andrada has designed the shirts. On November 11, Trump had praised India’s ‘astounding’ growth after it opened its economy and also lauded PM Modi, saying he had been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together.
Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual APEC summit in the Vietnamese port city, Trump had cited India as one of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region making strides. He had pointed out that India was celebrating the 70th anniversary of its independence and had highlighted that the country was a sovereign democracy with a population of over 1 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world.
“Since India opened its economy, it has achieved astounding growth and a new world of opportunities for its expanding middle class,” Trump had said, as per PTI. “And Prime Minister Modi has been working to bring that vast country and all of its people as one. And he has been working at it very, very successfully indeed,” the US President had added.
Meanwhile, on November 11, PM Modi had said that his visit to the Philippines to attend the India-ASEAN Summit symbolised the country’s commitment to deepening ties with the ASEAN member states and the Indo-Pacific region as part of the ‘act east policy’. The PM had also asserted that he was confident that his visit to Manila will give a new boost to India’s bilateral relations with the Philippines, and also further strengthen the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of India’s engagement with ASEAN.
In his departure statement ahead of the three-day trip, PM Modi had given a broad outline of the events he will attend during his first bilateral visit to the Philippines. Apart from participating in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits, Modi would also take part in Special Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders’ Meeting and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
(With Agency inputs)

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