PM Modi, Donald Trump expected to hold bilateral talks on Monday, regional security likely on agenda

PM Modi on Sunday night held separate pull-aside meetings with US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

File photo

Manila: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are expected to hold bilateral talks on Monday.

The two will hold the meeting on the sidelines of the 15th Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and the 12th East Asia Summit in the Philippine capital.

They are expected to deliberate on a number of key issues of mutual interest including the evolving security situation in the Indo-Pacific region where Washington favours a greater role by India.

There have been concerns over China's growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific and the issue was understood to have figured in a meeting of officials from India, the US, Japan and Australia today under the proposed Quadrilateral coalition of the four countries.

"The discussions focused on cooperation based on their converging vision and values for the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in an increasingly inter-connected region that they share with each other and with other partners," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

"They agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large," it said.

India-Australia-Japan-U.S. Consultations on Indo-Pacific held in Manila on November 12. Press release at https://t.co/lRgOBdHpEU — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) November 12, 2017

Meanwhile, the two leaders also met briefly on Sunday as they arrived for the event.

Interacting with world leaders in Manila. pic.twitter.com/qh0pdcFyXP — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 12, 2017

Later, PM Modi and Trump also posed for a family photograph with others leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, participating in the event.

On Tuesday, Modi will attend the ASEAN and East Asia summits where he is likely to reassert India's push for crafting a global approach to deal with growing challenge of terrorism and radicalisation besides pitching for steps to boost regional trade.

(With PTI inputs)