The 12th India- ASEAN summit was held on 12 November between heads of state and government ministers, including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh.

Joint counter-terrorism measures were discussed in accordance with the 2003 joint statement, as well as plans to increase ASEAN-Indian bilateral trade to US$100 billion by 2015. They also discussed commitment to the India-Myanmar-Thailand highway and to extend Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam highway links.

The leaders also reportedly held talks on food security, dialogue relations, future cooperation, and laying out a plan of action on the ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Security.

Modi has regularly tweeted about developments at the summit in Naypyidaw along with pictures of his meetings with the heads of other states.

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Modi has emphasised his government’s commitment to regional cooperation and remarked that India’s “Look East” policy is now an “Act East” policy.

While pushing for rapid progress in bilateral relations between regional players at the summit, the Indian premier took the opportunity to pitch “Make in India “- an initiative introduced by his government which aims to transform India into a global manufacturing hub – an idea which reportedly which found an eager audience in Thai Premier Prayuth Chan-O-cha and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak.

Modi also met with Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Burmese pro-democracy leader fondly remarked at the meeting that “India is her second home” as she spent a considerable amount of time in the country and attended college at New Delhi during her mother’s tenure as the ambassador to India.

The PM’s spokesperson from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Syed Akbaruddin ,told Indian media that Modi presented Suu Kyi with a copy of Mahatma Gandhi’s commentary on the sacred Indian book, the Bhagavad Gita, while referring to her as “a symbol of democracy”.