Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jakarta, Indonesia for the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit (EAS) scheduled for 7 September. Both conclaves are being hosted in Jakarta by Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN. PM Modi is likely to use his visit to serve a stern message to China over the issue of territorial integrity and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region, diplomatic sources told The Daily Guardian.
PM Modi’s visit to Indonesia assumes significance as it is taking place only a week after China released the 2023 edition of its so-called “standard map” showing Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh within Chinese territory. The PM’s participation in the ASEAN-India summit is important also because four members of the 10-strong Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam—had also formally disputed the Chinese map that claimed most of the South China Sea as Chinese territory.
“If PM Modi underlines the need for respecting territorial integrity of all nations, it will also be perceived to be a hard message for China in the context of the map dispute,” sources said. Modi’s words would be seen from a much wider perspective as only a day after his return from Jakarta, the PM will host the G20 summit in New Delhi. Chinese President Xi Jinping is not attending the G20 summit but China’s premier will be in attendance. While responding to the question of whether the issue of the “standard” map by the Chinese side will be discussed during PM Modi’s visit to Jakarta, official sources said that there are chances that the issue would be discussed during the upcoming event. “It is difficult to anticipate what would be discussed when the leaders meet. But issues which are of mutual concern, regional and international, would come up,” said Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Diplomatic sources said that PM Modi would make it a point to send out a strong message to Beijing in the background of the map controversy. Sources said that PM Modi is expected to underline the issue of territorial integrity and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region during his participation in ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits. The Indian side is expecting ASEAN members such as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia to come out with similar views in what would be a much stronger message for Beijing, sources added. PM Modi is also likely to reaffirm India’s commitment to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which is what would please the ASEAN partners all the more. Prime Minister Modi will leave for Jakarta on the 6th evening, and return on the 7th late evening.
The forthcoming ASEAN-India Summit will be the first Summit since the elevation of India-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. The Summit will review the progress of India-ASEAN and chart the future direction of
cooperation.
The East Asia summit would provide an opportunity for the leaders of ASEAN countries and its eight dialogue partners, including India, to exchange views on issues of regional and global significance, said the MEA statement. Meanwhile, Indonesia agreed to adjust the timings so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could return to New Delhi for the upcoming G20 Summit. Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar said that the Indonesian side was kind enough to alter the timings of the two different summits which were scheduled for September 7. “Indonesia was kind enough to advance the timings of the EAS so that the Prime Minister could come back early,” said Kumar. “Earlier the meeting of EAS was scheduled for the afternoon but later it was adjusted a little bit. From 9 am to 10 am, there will be an ASEAN-India Summit and after a gap of 15 minutes, the EAS meeting will be held,” he added.