Sushma Swaraj meets Laotian counterpart Kommasith; holds bilateral talks
What's the story
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today met her Laotian counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith and held wide-ranging talks to enhance cooperation in key areas like defense, trade, energy, and agriculture.
Swaraj, who is in the Southeast Asian country Laos on a two-day visit, co-chaired the 9th Joint Commission Meeting with Kommasith as the two leaders laid out the roadmap for cooperation and partnership.
Twitter Post
Towards strengthening our long-standing friendship, tweets MEA spokesperson
Towards strengthening our long-standing friendship.
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) November 23, 2018
EAM @SushmaSwaraj welcomed by Foreign Minister of #LaoPDR Saleumxay Kommasith ahead of 9th Joint Commission Meeting. Both sides looking forward to this useful and effective mechanism to identify priority areas of cooperation pic.twitter.com/axxzLIaJeI
Proposal
India to offer grant and credit of $250mn to Laos
Both the ministers held wide-ranging discussions covering cooperation in agriculture, trade and investment, defense, education, culture, Information Technology, energy and mining, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.
"Swaraj offered to share India's expertise and experience towards supporting developmental needs of Laos, taking the total offer of grant and line of credit proposal to $250 million," Kumar said.
Information
Laotian singer welcomed Swaraj with Mahatma Gandhi's favorite bhajan
Yesterday, Swaraj attended an Indian community event in Vientiane (Laotian capital) and interacted with participants. In her honor, famous Laotian singer Phonesavanh Inthavong (Namfon) sang Mahatma Gandhi's favorite bhajan 'Vaishnava Jana To'. During her two-day visit, Swaraj also called on Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith.
Twitter Post
Swaraj, Sisoulith had 'good exchange of views on imparting momentum'
EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on Prime Minister of #LaoPDR Dr Thongloun Sisoulith in Vientiane. Good exchange of views on imparting momentum to our relationship across several sectors. PM Sisoulith fondly recalled his visit to India for ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in January 2018 pic.twitter.com/xYBcaYZorw
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) November 23, 2018