China on mind, India invites ASEAN leaders to R-day parade

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 13

Riding a mix of religion, commerce and a growing challenge of China, India will be hosting the all heads of state of the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for an India-ASEAN summit to mark 25 years of the relationship. All the ten will be chief guests at the Republic Day parade down the Rajpath in New Delhi on January 26.

Commerce, Culture and Connectivity will be three ‘C’s’ of the India-ASEAN relationship, said sources. 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 took place five years ago to mark 20 years of the relationship.

The maritime connectivity will be an important route for our relationship, 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 the fourth largest trading partner of India with trade at US $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 hydrocarbon rich sea. New Delhi has a stated goal that freedom of navigation and over flight over the South China Sea in crucial. China unilaterally claims large parts of the sea. “A peaceful, stable and free Asia is very important,” said sources.

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 ten 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,” said the sources.

Connectivity is the fulcrum of all three C's. It is not just maritime or road connectivity — it is the soft connectivity. India-ASEAN ties go back to 2000 years, the sources said.

The trilateral highway that will link India’s northeast to Thailand via Myanmar is expected to be completed by 2019.

At the trade level India is looking to integrate itself into the textile manufacturing, agriculture and tourism.

India see no friction between India and ASEAN on the quadrilateral – India , US, Australia and Japan. “They know India respects international rule of law,” sources said.