PM Modi arrives in Bangkok on three-day visit amid focus on RCEP negotiations
Bangkok: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Saturday on a three-day visit in the midst of renewed diplomatic efforts to convince India to support signing of a mega trade deal involving 16 Asia-Pacific nations to facilitate creation of the biggest free-trade region in the world.
The prime minister will attend 16th ASEAN-India Summit, the 14th East Asia Summit and the third summit meeting of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which is negotiating the trade deal.
Though the annual ASEAN and East Asia summits are key platforms to devise common strategy in dealing with geo-strategic and economic issues facing the region, the single-point focus this time has been on the long-negotiated RCEP trade deal.
Multiple diplomatic sources confirmed to PTI that except India, all 15 RCEP countries were on board in finalizing the deal when leaders of the grouping hold a summit meeting on Monday.
At the RCEP Summit, we will take stock of the progress in RCEP negotiations. We will consider all issues including whether India's concerns and interests in trade in goods, services, and investments are being fully accommodated, during this summit, Modi said in a statement in New Delhi ahead of his visit here.
On India-ASEAN summit, Modi said the focus will be on deepening economic partnerships, and expanding maritime cooperation besides enhancing ASEAN-led mechanisms.
I will be reviewing with ASEAN partners our cooperative activities, and examining plans for strengthening ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms, enhancing connectivity (sea, land, air, digital and people-to-people), deepening economic partnerships, and expanding maritime cooperation, he said.
The annual ASEAN summit, a grouping of 10 influential countries, is taking place amid China's aggressive behaviour in the disputed South China Sea as well as in the Indo-Pacific region. The powerful grouping will have separate summits with its dialogue partners like India, the US, Japan, Russia and China.
The ASEAN region along with India together comprises combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated at over USD 3.8 trillion. Investment from ASEAN to Indian has been over USD 70 billion in the last 17 years accounting for more than 17 per cent of India's total FDI.
Besides attending the India-ASEAN and RCEP summits, the prime minister will also attend the annual East Asia summit which is expected to review the evolving security scenario in the region besides deliberating on ways to deal with threat of terrorism and radicalization.
While ASEAN summit is likely to focus more on trade and investment related issues, leaders at the East Asia Summit are expected to delve deep into issues relating to maritime security, terrorism, non-proliferation and migration.
The East Asia Summit (EAS) is today the leading element in the regional cooperative architecture, as a singular, Leaders-led structure that is centered around ASEAN, and includes as members major countries in the region or with important interests in it. We will be reviewing significant regional and global issues on the Agenda of the EAS, and examining the state of our current programmes and projects, the PM said.
I will also focus on our Indo-Pacific strategy, on which I am happy to note strong convergences with ASEAN partners and others at the EAS, he said.
Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Russia.
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Three footballers of Indian origin named in squads for FIFA World Cup 2026
New Delhi: Three footballers of Indian origin have been named in preliminary or final squads for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026, scheduled to be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
According to a report published by Mathrubhumi, Sarpreet Singh was included in the New Zealand national football team squad which was announced on Wednesday.
Born in Auckland to Indian parents, Singh was eligible to represent India through his family roots but chose to play for New Zealand. The 27-year-old attacking midfielder made his senior international debut in 2018 and has since become a regular member of the national side.
Singh has made 26 appearances for New Zealand and has scored three goals while providing seven assists.
Julen Lopetegui has included two players of Indian origin: Niall Mason and Tahsin Mohammed, in Qatar’s selections for the tournament.
Mason, a defender whose mother is Indian, previously trained in the youth academies of Real Madrid, Southampton FC and Aston Villa FC. Although he received his first senior call-up earlier this year, the Qatar defender is yet to make his senior international debut.
Tahsin Mohammed, 19, was born to parents from Kerala’s Kannur district. His father Jamshid is from Thalassery, while his mother Shaima belongs to Valapattanam. The winger became the first player of Indian origin to feature in the Qatar Stars League, Qatar’s premier domestic football competition.
Mohammed has made two appearances for the senior Qatar side, including in a World Cup qualifier against Afghanistan in June 2024.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be jointly hosted by United States, Mexico and Canada.
