New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (September 4) said that India supports development and not expansionism in his public remarks with the Sultan of Brunei, the leader of a Southeast Asian nation with overlapping claims in the South China Sea but with a long-standing non-confrontational approach to the maritime dispute.
Just before Modi’s two-day visit concluded, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah hosted a banquet lunch for the visiting Indian leader.
Speaking at the lunch, Modi said that India supported freedom of navigation and overflight under international laws like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“We agree that a code of conduct should be finalised in this region. We support the policy of development, and not expansionism,” he said.
India’s statement came amidst an increasing violent confrontation between the Philippines and China over their respective claims to the South China Sea’s oil-rich waters in recent weeks.
The joint statement stated that both leaders “reiterated their commitment to maintaining and promoting peace, stability, maritime safety and security, as well as respecting freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded lawful commerce, consistent with international law, notably the [UNCLOS] 1982”.
“The leaders also urged all parties to resolve disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, particularly UNCLOS 1982,” it added.
The Southeast Asian sultanate has overlapping claims with China over a continental shelf, territorial waters and an exclusive economic zone.
However, compared to the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, Brunei has been largely silent over its claims. As its hydrocarbon reserves have declined, it has tried to diversify its economy, which has led China to make significant inroads.
The joint statement also noted that the two sides renewed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on space-related cooperation.
ISRO has a telemetry tracking and telecommand centre in Brunei that tracks and monitors those Indian satellites and satellite launch vehicles that are launched eastward, secretary (east) of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Jaideep Mazumdar said earlier this week.
The space document is the only MoU the two sides signed during Modi’s visit, which took place at a time when he was originally scheduled to attend the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand.
That event was deferred pending the formation of a new government in that country after the appointment of Paetongtarn Shinawatra as its new prime minister.
Apart from space, India and Brunei also discussed enhancing cooperation on issues relating to defence, connectivity, trade and investment, energy, health, pharmaceuticals and tourism among others.
As for defence cooperation, Modi and Bolkiah “acknowledged the importance of enhancing defence and maritime cooperation including through regular exchanges of visits, training programmes, joint exercises and visits of naval and coast guard ships” between their countries.
The year 2024 marks the 40th year of bilateral relations between India and Brunei.
Indo-Bruneian bilateral trade amounted to $195.2 million as of 2023 and there are about 14,000 Indians living in Brunei as per the MEA’s estimates.
Modi is the first Indian prime minister to make a state visit to Brunei, while Bolkiah – who has ruled his country for the last 57 years – made two state visits to India, in 1992 and 2008.
Yesterday, Modi visited the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Brunei’s capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan and inaugurated a building in India’s high commission there.
After the end of his Brunei state visit, Modi left for Singapore, where he will remain until Thursday.
