New Delhi, Oct 21 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will leave for Thailand Friday on a three-day visit to take part in dual summits, involving the 10 Asean countries and the 16-nation East Asia grouping in a bid to expand India's manifold ties with the economically vibrant region.

Manmohan Singh will participate in the 7th summit of India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Saturday at the seaside resort of Hua Hin, located some 200 km from Bangkok.

He will be accompanied by senior officials, including N. Ravi, secretary (east) in the external affairs ministry.

India's political and economic relations with Asean have been burgeoning since it launched a Look East policy in 1992.

India and Asean signed a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) in August this year that has the potential to multiply manifold bilateral trade that is currently estimated to be $38 billion.

The two sides are currently negotiating an FTA in services and investment, Ravi told reporters in a curtain-raiser press conference ahead of Manmohan Singh's visit.

Manmohan Singh will discuss with leaders of Asean countries an array of issues, including the global financial crisis, a pan regional strategy for disaster management, climate change and reforms of global bodies.

The formation of an extended Asean Community by 2015 may also figure in the discussions, an official source said.

India is a dialogue partner at Asean, which comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei.

Manmohan Singh will attend the fourth East Asia summit, an informal grouping that comprises 10 Asean countries, China, Japan and South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Although the two summits are substantive in themselves, all eyes in India will be on the meeting between Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao who may hold bilateral talks on the sidelines in the Thai resort.

The meeting between Manmohan Singh and Wen assumes significance in view of the mutual recriminations between the two countries on a host of issues, including reported Chinese incursions and Beijing's objections to the visit of Tibetan leader Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, India's northeastern state over which Beijing claims sovereignty. (IANS)