Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will be on a three-day visit to Belgium later this week to attend the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.
Naidu will lead an Indian delegation to the summit, scheduled to be held on October 18-19 in Brussels.
“The bi-annual event is considered the highest platform for dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe in the areas of investment, trade, security and tourism. This will also be the first multilateral summit that the vice president will be attending after taking office in August,” the MEA said in a statement.
The theme of this year’s ASEM summit is ‘Global Partners for Global Challenges’.
The 2018 summit, hosted by the European Union, will be chaired by the President of the European Council. A number of heads of states and heads of government are expected to participate in the summit, it said.
“ASEM Agenda for 2018 will prioritise issues related to connectivity, trade and investment, sustainable development, climate change, terrorism, migration, maritime security and cyberspace,” the MEA said.
Apart from the opening ceremony, Naidu will participate in the Plenary Session and have interactions with various stakeholders. He will also have bilateral meetings with the heads of government from Austria, Portugal, Switzerland and other countries on the sidelines of the summit.
The vice president on October 20, will address the Indian diaspora at the Jain Culture Centre in Wilrijk, Antwerp. He will also pay floral tribute to a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi located in the Governorate of Antwerp, the MEA said.
