Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Hosts Prime Minister Modi for His First Visit to Brunei
On September 3, Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to travel to Brunei after his official visit to Bandar Seri Begawan. During the visit, PM Modi and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah discussed emerging areas of bilateral cooperation like FinTech, digital payment systems. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the dialogue creates avenues for newfound cooperation on digital finance.
Moreover, the two leaders also discussed defense cooperation, energy, space technology, health cooperation, among others. These critical industries are spaces in which U.S. companies can play crucial roles in and support the Sultanate’s economic diversification goals. In the political security area, PM Modi stressed the need to respect “freedom of navigation and overflight.” The two leaders met against a backdrop of regional tensions in the South China Sea, in which Brunei is a stakeholder.
After the first leg of his two-nation trip, PM Modi visited nearby Singapore. India is the second largest partner for ASEAN after China, with a trade value of more than $131 billion in 2023. Both parties are renewing ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA). Recently, PM Modi visited Vietnam’s PM Pham Minh Chinh, initiated a phonecall to congratulate Indonesia’s President-Elect Prabowo Subianto and hosted Malaysia’s PM Anwar Ibrahim in India. The increasing India-ASEAN partnership adds a fundamental layer to the ASEAN strategy of balancing relations with polarized global power.