In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar on Tuesday, Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos Horta extended his country’s strong support for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
The top leader of the Southeast Asian nation is in India to attend the tenth Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar.
PM Modi extended a warm welcome to President Horta and his delegation to the summit on what is the first ever Head of State or Government level visit between the two countries. The PM reaffirmed India’s commitment to build a vibrant “Delhi-Dili” connect. Dili is the capital of Timor-Lests. In September 2023, the Indian leader had announced the opening of the Indian Mission in the country. He offered assistance to Timor-Leste in capacity building, human resource development, IT, fintech, energy and healthcare including traditional medicine and pharma. He also invited Timor-Leste to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
Mr Modi congratulated President Horta for ASEAN’s in-principle decision to admit Timor-Leste as its eleventh member and expressed hope for its attainment of full membership soon. President Horta thanked the PM for the invitation to participate in the summit. He sought support from India in meeting its development priorities, particularly in the areas of healthcare and capacity building in IT
The two leaders also discussed regional issues and developments in the Indo-Pacific, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
The two leaders committed to continue their excellent cooperation in the multilateral arena. PM Modi appreciated Timor-Leste’s active participation in the two editions of the Voice of Global South Summit. They agreed that countries of the Global South should synergise their position on global issues.