Modi to Visit Manila 16-18 November for ASEAN-India, East Asia Summits

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Manila on Monday, 16 November, for a three-day visit to attend the 23rd India-ASEAN summit and the 21st East Asia Summit, Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said at a special briefing on Thursday, 12 November. Modi is due to leave early on Monday and return on Wednesday, ThePrint reported.

Quad Meeting Not Confirmed

Tandon said the bilateral and Quad agenda was “not confirmed”. Sources told ThePrint that a Quad leaders’ summit is likely on 17 November. The United States would host it, although India is the current Quad chair. The same report said that if the Quad meeting takes place, a formal Modi-Trump bilateral is unlikely. US President Donald Trump is among the 19 leaders expected at the East Asia Summit.

Maritime Security and Digital Public Infrastructure on the Agenda

For India-ASEAN talks, the agenda covers maritime domain awareness, digital public infrastructure, trade, and maritime surveillance cooperation with the ASEAN bloc. For readers, trade terms and digital payment links with Southeast Asia are the areas most likely to produce announcements that affect businesses and travellers, though none has been confirmed.

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Details Still Awaited

The MEA has not yet published a full schedule of bilateral meetings. Whether the Quad summit goes ahead, and who Modi meets on the sidelines, will be clear only closer to 16 November. IPB’s coverage of the PM’s diplomacy is collected under the Narendra Modi tag and the MEA tag.

Source: Based on reporting by ThePrint, citing the MEA special briefing of 12 November.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.