PM Modi leaves for home, invites ASEAN leaders as chief guests on Republic Day

MANILA:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for home after concluding his three-day visit to Philippines where he attended the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits besides holding a series of bilateral meetings with a number of leaders including US President Donald Trump. In his address at the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits, Prime Minister Modi talked about need for united approach to contain terrorism and radicalisation in the region, asserted India's long-held position on freedom of navigation and over flight in the Indo-Pacific. He also called for an irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and sought a detailed probe into North Korea's nuclear proliferation linkages. He invited the ASEAN leaders to be chief guests at India's 69th Republic Day celebrations. Addressing at the 15th ASEAN-India Summit, Prime Minister Modi said, "I look forward to receiving you at the India-ASEAN Special Commemorative Summit on January 25, 2018 in New Delhi. The 1.25 billion people of India are keen to welcome the ASEAN Leaders as our Chief Guests at India's 69th Republic Day Celebrations." The Prime Minister also lauded the ASEAN by saying its remarkable journey is indeed worthy of reflection as much as it is of celebration. "As a part of 25th celebrations of India-ASEAN celebrations, in that context when the summit took place today, all the members of the ASEAN countries warmly welcomed our Prime Minister for this particular summit. Prime Minister invited all the ten leaders ASEAN member's countries for a commemorative summit to be held on January 25 and then he invited them to be chief guests for our republic day celebrations on January 26, 2018," Secretary (East) in the Ministry of Exernal Affairs Preeti Saran said in a press briefing. "In response all the ASEAN leaders thanked our Prime Ministers for the invitation and graciously accepted this invitation," she added. The ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 Southeast Asian states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) which promotes Pan-Asianism and intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, military, educational and cultural integration amongst its members and Asian states. (With inputs from agencies)