China on mind, India to host all ASEAN heads at R-Day parade : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

China on mind, India to host all ASEAN heads at R-Day parade

NEW DELHI:Riding a mix of religion, commerce and a growing challenge of China, India will be hosting all heads of state of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for an India-ASEAN summit to mark 25 years of the relationship.



Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 13

Riding a mix of religion, commerce and a growing challenge of China, India will be hosting all heads of state of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for an India-ASEAN summit to mark 25 years of the relationship.

All 10 leaders will be chief guests at the Republic Day parade down the Rajpath in New Delhi on January 26.

Commerce, Culture and Connectivity are the three ‘Cs’ of the India-ASEAN relationship. Various people-to-people connects will be marked by the high-profile India-ASEAN commemorative summit in New Delhi on January 25 and followed by the festive fanfare of the military-cultural parade the next day. This is the second time that an India-ASEAN summit is being held, the previous one being organised five years ago to mark 20 years of the relationship. ASEAN has conducted such summits with the US, Russia, China and Korea.

The maritime connectivity will be an important route for our relationship, a source said. Another focus will be on strategic ties as India and companies held by private individuals are investing in various infrastructure projects. ASEAN — Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos, Brunei — form fourth largest trading partner of India at $70 billion.

India is also looking at providing the much needed stability in the South China Sea. Some of the ASEAN countries are locked in territorial dispute with China in the hydro-carbon rich sea. New Delhi has a stated goal that freedom of navigation and over flight over the South China Sea is crucial. China unilaterally claims large parts of the sea. “A peaceful, stable and free Asia is very important,” a source said.

India will focus on the youth and host 500 children, exposing them to the Indian way of life. At the religious-cultural level, India has invited all 10 ASEAN countries to send in their ‘Ramayana’ troupes to perform in India. Variations of the Hindu epic are narrated in various forms in these countries. “Ramayana is an important link,” a source said.

Connectivity is the fulcrum of all three Cs and this is not just maritime or road connectivity, but the soft connectivity. India-ASEAN ties go back to 2000 years. The tri-lateral highway that will link India’s north-east to Thailand via Myanmar is expected to be completed by 2019. 

Marking 25 yrs of relationship

  • India will host all heads of state of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations to mark 25 years of the relationship
  • Commerce, Culture and Connectivity are the three 'Cs' of the India-ASEAN relationship
  • The focus will be on maritime connectivity and strategic ties as India and companies held by private individuals are investing in various infrastructure projects

Top News

Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest

Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest

Ansari was hospitalised after he complained of abdominal pai...

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

The bench refuses to comment on merits of the issue, saying ...

Arvind Kejriwal to be produced before Delhi court today as 6-day ED custody ends

Excise policy case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

In his submissions, Kejriwal said, ‘I am named by 4 witnesse...

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

MEA spokesperson says India is proud of its independent and ...

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Bhatt, who was sacked from the force in 2015, is already beh...


Cities

View All