New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe have been the two most travelled Asian leaders in the year 2015.
Both the leaders visited 23 countries individually in the year 2015, way ahead when compared to US President Barack Obama who visited just 11 countries this year.
In 2014, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe undertook visits to a total of 30 countries. Experts view the extensive travel being undertaken by Asian leaders as a sign of a significant shift in world order, one that has largely been US-dominated.
“India didn't really have a foreign policy until Modi arrived,” Kilbinder Dosanjh, the Asia director at the Eurasia Group said of Modi's foreign visits. “Modi's visits on one hand sought investment and on the other projected India's growing power as the region's fastest growing major economy," he added.
For Chinese President Xi, 2015 was a year of “big country diplomacy,” the new international order and promoting what China's foreign ministry loves to call “win-win” outcomes.
US President Obama, who leads the world's largest economy, visited only 11 countries in 2015. He made five international trips during the year, the longest of which was last month to Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia for three different summits.
Obama also hosted a parade of foreign leaders this year—including Xi and Abe—at the White House.
