Opening Remarks by the Minister of State for External Affairs Dr. V. K. Singh at the 7th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Foreign Ministers Meeting in Vientiane, Laos (July 24, 2016)

Speeches and Statements

Speeches & Statements

Opening Remarks by the Minister of State for External Affairs Dr. V. K. Singh at the 7th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Foreign Ministers Meeting in Vientiane, Laos (July 24, 2016)

August 01, 2016

Your Excellency, H.E. Saleumxay Kommasith, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR
Your Excellency, Mr. Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam
Your Excellency, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor & Minister for Foreign Affairs of Myanmar
Your Excellency, Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
Your Excellency, Mr. Prak Sokhonn, Senior Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Kingdom of Cambodia

I would like to thank the Mekong Ganga Cooperation Chair, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, for organising this Ministerial Meeting and for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to me and my delegation. I am delighted that MGC has come back to its birthplace in Vientiane, where it was first launched in 2000.
I would also like to thank the Hon’ble Ministers from the other participating countries – Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam - for making it convenient to attend today’s meeting.
MGC is the first and oldest among all Mekong initiatives. It is reflective of the civilizational bonds that connect the Mekong countries to India. The MGC holds a very significant place in our Act East Policy, and together we all stand committed to energizing this initiative to our mutual benefit.
Excellencies, before we proceed with matters on the agenda, I would like to present to you a short clip of a documentary film commissioned by my Government on the Mekong Ganga Cooperation Asian Traditional Textiles Museum, which was opened in Siem Reap, Cambodia in April 2014, with contributions from India, Cambodia and all other MGC partner countries. The film entitled ‘The Power of 6,’ brings to life the accomplishments that our cooperation has achieved in this project. It, moreover, bears testimony to our living cultural connect and provides a model for cooperation in other fields.

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