Manmohan Singh heads home after 3-nation Asia tour - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Having concluded his substantive weeklong three-nation tour of Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is returning to New Delhi today evening. Dr. Singh left for home from Hanoi after attending the India-ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit, besides holding significant bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Vietnam, Singapore and Australia as also with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During this tour, India signed two Free Trade Agreements, as part of India's efforts to give a push to its 'Look East' policy. While attending the India-ASEAN and East-Asia Summits, Dr. Singh pitched for closer and greater integration between India and East and South East Asian countries. Dr. Singh pressed for early completion of free trade agreement in Services and Investment and implementation of such a pact on Goods signed last year. He also announced visa-on-arrival facility to nationals of Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines and Laos from January next year and a number of other measures which included establishing of a Centre for Tracking and Data Reception and an Imaging facility for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. On Friday, following his talks with his Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Dr. Singh said China should be sensitive to India's "core" issues as he raised "difficult" matters with him in the backdrop of Beijing issuing stapled visas to people of Jammu and Kashmir.