PM Narendra Modi to meet Japanese, Vietnamese Prime Ministers

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold three bilateral meetings with his Japanese, Vietnamese and New Zealand counterparts — Shinzo Abe, Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Jacinda Ardern, respectively — before the 12th East Asia Summit on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old Arden, a member of the New Zealand Labour Party, is the world’s youngest woman leader and was elected PM this October, making this a much-awaited first meeting between the two leaders. India and New Zealand have been long discussing a free trade agreement between each other.

Also, this will be the second bilateral meeting between Modi and Abe in past two months after Abe had travelled to India in September for the 12th India-Japan annual summit, which was also the fourth summit meeting between the two leaders.

Modi had last met the Vietnamese PM over a year ago during his bilateral visit to Vietnam. Japan and Vietnam have been involved in a tussle with China over the latter’s activities in East China Sea and South China Sea, respectively.