Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a three-day visit to Brunei and Singapore beginning Tuesday. Briefing media in New Delhi yesterday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, Prime Minister Modi will visit Brunei Darussalam on the 3rd of September at the invitation of Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. Mr. Jaiswal said that this will be the first-ever bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to that country. He added that the visit coincides with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Brunei. Mr. Jaiswal informed that on the second leg of his visit, Mr. Modi will reach Singapore on Wednesday at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong.

The External Affairs Ministry rejected the media report regarding the flood situation in Bangladesh, which suggested that India is somehow responsible for it. Replying to a query, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that, the narrative is misleading and factually incorrect. He noted that it also ignores the facts mentioned in the press releases issued by the MEA clarifying the situation. He said, the media report overlooked that India has a regular and timely exchange of data and critical information with Bangladesh through existing joint mechanisms for water resources management.

On a query about Ukraine, Mr. Jaiswal said that, as far as India is concerned, New Delhi will be guided by the bilateral discussions it had with Kyiv, including the recent high-level visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said India believes that the visit paves the way for stronger bilateral ties and facilitates more forward-looking discussions on the possibility of a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict.