Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Brunei on a bilateral visit on September 3 and 4, making him the first Indian Prime Minister to visit there. This is being seen as an important step towards strengthening ties between the two countries.
“Prime Minister Modi will visit Brunei on 3-4 September at the invitation of His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. This will be the first bilateral visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Brunei,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a special briefing on the Prime Minister’s visit.
This visit of Prime Minister Modi is taking place on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Brunei.
Prime Minister Modi was earlier scheduled to visit Bangkok to attend the sixth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) – scheduled to be held on September 3 and 4 – which was postponed last week due to the formation of a new government in the country.
PM Modi’s visit to Brunei comes nearly ten years after his first meeting with the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, during the 25th ASEAN Summit in Myanmar in November 2014. They met again during the 2017 East Asia Summit held in the Philippines.
In July, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Brunei counterpart in Laos on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings. The two also jointly launched a logo to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit will focus on enhancing trade ties and promoting cooperation in the space and defence sectors. India already has several agreements with Brunei in the space sector and also has a telemetry station in the country. The Prime Minister’s visit will help strengthen cooperation in this regard, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
India and Brunei are also looking to enhance relations in energy security in terms of crude oil and hydrocarbons.
Currently, India imports crude oil worth $270 million from Brunei. Brunei has also played a key role in bringing India closer to ASEAN by being the country coordinator for India from 2012 to 2015. Brunei has been supporting India’s ‘Act East Policy’.
Regarding defence, the Foreign Ministry said, “We are still in discussions with Brunei to set up a joint working group on defence.”
Indian naval and coast guard ships have been regularly visiting Brunei and two Indian defence companies – Bharat Electronics Limited and MKU Limited – participated for the first time in the Defence Industry Exhibition organised by the Brunei Armed Forces in June 2024. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah visited the Indian stall during the expo and appreciated the participation of Indian companies.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the total population of Brunei Darussalam is about 450,500, of which about 14,500 Indians are currently living there. More than half of these Indian migrants are semi and unskilled workers who work in the oil and gas industry, construction, retail trade, etc.