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View all search resultsModi to skip Asian-African Conference commemoration: top envoy
Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will be unable to attend the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC) as it coincides with a state budgetary session at the Indian parliament, a top envoy has said
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I
ndian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will be unable to attend the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC) as it coincides with a state budgetary session at the Indian parliament, a top envoy has said.
'PM Modi cannot attend [the AAC commemorative summit] as there will be parliamentary sessions that will take place starting from April 20,' Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Gurjit Singh said as quoted by Antara, Tuesday.
The 60th AAC commemorative summit will be held in Jakarta and Bandung from April 22 to April 24.
Singh said the upcoming parliamentary sessions would focus on the final deliberations on India's state budget, so Modi had to be there.
The ambassador added that India would send Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to attend the summit. The deputy prime minister of India would also be present to convey PM Modi's special message to President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.
'We want to show that we fully support the organizing of the AAC,' said Singh.
As reported earlier, President Jokowi's special envoy AM Fachir, who is also deputy foreign minister, visited India to convey an official invitation to PM Modi to attend the AAC commemorative summit. He also conveyed the President's request for the Indian prime minister to agree to deliver a keynote speech in the Asian-African Business Summit in Jakarta on April 21.
As the host of the 60th AAC anniversary, Indonesia considers Modi's attendance important. Apart from India's position as one of the AAC initiators in 1955, India has also become one of the biggest economies in the world. Therefore, Modi's presence would facilitate the strengthening of South-South partnerships and the New Asia Africa Strategic Partnership (NAASP) that will be promoted by Indonesia at the 60th AAC anniversary.
Former Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the AAC initiators in Bandung in 1955, together with Indonesian PM Ali Sastroamijoyo, Pakistan PM Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Burmese (now Myanmar) PM U Nu and Sri Lankan PM Sir John Kotelawala.
Foreign Ministry records show that 57 countries have confirmed their attendance at the event that will take place in Jakarta from April 19 to April 23. Meanwhile, no less than 20 heads of state have confirmed their attendance at the summit's events in Jakarta and the AAC historical visits in Bandung on April 24. They include the leaders of Bangladesh, China, Iran, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, South Africa and Vietnam. (dyl/ebf)(+++)
