Leaders of 10 ASEAN countries will be the chief guests at Republic Day 2018 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited them during the ASEAN-India Summit in November 2017. They are also participating in the India-ASEAN Special Commemorative Summit on Jan. 25, 2018.
The event is being attended by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Laos PM Thongloun Sisoulith, Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Myanmar State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, who serves as the country’s de facto leader; Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Malaysian PM Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, Vietnam PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc; Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, and Joko Widodo, the President of Indonesia.
“The prime minister’s intention that the ‘Look East’ policy should now be the ‘Act East’ policy is really taking shape,” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said before the event, according to NDTV.
Bolstering ties with Brunei Darussalam! PM @narendramodi and His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah had positive discussion on cooperation in defence and security, energy, ICT, education, health and space. #ASEANIndia pic.twitter.com/2naimRwDSY
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 25, 2018
The presence of the 10 ASEAN leaders at the 69th Republic Day of India will mark a first event of its kind. The group will be reportedly seated on a stage enclosed with a 100-feet wide bullet-proof glass.
Since the leaders of the nations are also in India for the commemorative summit, they inaugurated the Bharat-ASEAN Maitri Park, a public park of 2.81 acres in New Delhi, as a symbol of the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-India dialogue relations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met several visiting leaders, including Suu Kyi, and held discussions on various issues of mutual interest and ways of further strengthening bilateral relations. The focus of the meetings remained key areas of counter-terrorism, security, connectivity, economic and commercial exchange as well as cultural exchange.
Vietnam and India signed two agreements on cooperation in the fields of information and broadcasting and on establishment of tracking and data reception station and data processing facility in Vietnam under the ASEAN-India Space Cooperation.
Philippines and India witnessed an exchange of an MOU between Invest India and Board of Investments of the Philippines.
Strategic partnership rooted in commercial, cultural and people-to-people contacts! PM @narendramodi had a productive discussion with Singapore’s PM @leehsienloong on economic and commercial ties, FinTech, tourism, enhanced connectivity & Smart Cities #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/M8u05qN5Ya
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 25, 2018
Apart from the Republic Day event, they will also attend a leaders’ retreat to discuss air and maritime cooperation and security. It is believed that the event is a platform for India to present itself as an ally against China’s expansion, and that India’s bold move aims to bolster cooperation against China’s growing powers in trade and military presence around South-East and South Asia.
Our #ActEast complementing Thailand’s Act West policy! PM @narendramodi met with PM of Thailand Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha. Constructive dialogue on economic and commercial exchange, connectivity, defence & security, cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/lVDc0yGOgX
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 25, 2018