NEW DELHI: The leaders of India and southeast Asia agreed on Thursday to boost their maritime ties at a summit in New Delhi, as they seek to balance the increasing weight of China across the region.
India is hosting the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Regional Cooperation (ASEAN) and the summit comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pursuing an “Act East” policy of developing ties with these countries.
The Indian and ASEAN leaders agreed “to establish a mechanism for greater cooperation in the maritime domain sector,” Preeti Saran, secretary in the Indian Foreign Mnistry, told reporters.
“They did discuss the issues of greater maritime cooperation, addressing both traditional and non-traditional challenges all of us face collectively,” Saran said, without elaborating.
In the talks Modi also pitched for an ASEAN-India women’s navy team which could sail around the world, just as an Indian team is doing currently, Saran said.
Modi has invited the leaders of all 10 ASEAN nations to join him for India’s Republic Day celebrations on Friday in the biggest ever gathering of foreign leaders at the parade, which showcases the country’s military might and cultural diversity.
The leaders attending the summit in New Delhi include Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.
New Delhi’s push to expand economic ties with southeast Asia still trail those of China, whose trade with ASEAN was more than six times greater than India’s in 2016-17 at $470 million.
China has in recent years also built ports and power plants in countries around India’s periphery, expanding its presence in South Asia and pushing New Delhi to seek new allies.
Modi said he would work toward strengthening relations with ASEAN countries, saying trade had already grown “25 times in 25 years.”
“Investments are robust and growing. We will further enhance trade ties and work toward greater interaction among our business communities,” Modi said.
India, ASEAN leaders agree to boost maritime cooperation
India, ASEAN leaders agree to boost maritime cooperation
Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro undergoes double hernia surgery
- He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed that he needed the procedure
- The surgery in Brasilia is expected to last about four hours
SAO PAULO: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is undergoing double hernia surgery on Thursday at a hospital in the country’s capital, his family said.
Bolsonaro, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday, has been serving a 27-year prison sentence since November for an attempted coup.
He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed that he needed the procedure. The surgery in Brasilia is expected to last about four hours, the DF Star hospital medical team said in a statement Wednesday.
Doctors say Bolsonaro’s double hernia causes him pain. The former leader, who was in power between 2019 and 2022, has gone through several other surgeries since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and sentenced him to prison, authorized the procedure, but denied the former president’s request for house arrest after he leaves the hospital.
Bolsonaro doesn’t have any contact with the few other inmates at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia, where he is held and where his 12-square-meter (around 130-square-foot) room has a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a television and a desk, according to authorities.
He has free access to his doctors and lawyers, but other visitors must receive approval from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, de Moraes authorized Bolsonaro’s sons to visit him while he’s hospitalized. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, is accompanying him.
Early Thursday, his eldest son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, told reporters before the surgery that his father had written a letter confirming he had appointed him as his political party’s presidential candidate in next year’s election. Flávio Bolsonaro announced on Dec. 5 that he will challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, as the candidate of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.
The senator read the letter to journalists, and his office released a reproduction of it to the media.
“He represents the continuation of the path of prosperity that I began well before becoming president, as I believe we must restore the responsibility of leading Brazil with justice, resolve and loyalty to the aspirations of the Brazilian people,” Bolsonaro said in the handwritten letter, dated Dec. 25.
The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system following his 2022 election defeat.
The plot included plans to kill Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and de Moraes. There was also a plan to encourage an insurrection in early 2023.
Bolsonaro was also convicted on charges that include leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He has denied any wrongdoing.
