India-ASEAN: New vibrancy in economic ties
The two sides are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the summit-level meeting between ASEAN and India and the 20th anniversary of sectoral dialogue partnership between the two.
Nine heads of state/governments of all Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) except the Philippines, which will be represented by its vice-president, are to participate in the summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"The summit is expected to culminate in a vision document which will be based on recommendations from the Eminent Persons Group. After the plenary Thursday, there will be a ceremonial flag-down of the Asean car rally by the leaders of the Asean countries," Syed Akbaruddin, official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told mediapersons.
According to Sanjay Bhattacharyya, joint secretary (south) in India's external affairs ministry, "The Look East Policy now has a new impetus and that is spurred by our growing relations with our close neighbours in southeast Asia."
Deciding to engage in intense bilateral diplomacy with individual Asean nations, Singh will hold bilateral talks with the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia on the sidelines of the two-day commemorative summit.
In November, he had met the leaders of Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei and Myanmar in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
The major
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