It has been 25 years of India’s partnership with the south Asian countries in ASEAN and this will be market by extending the fourth highest civilian honor Padma Shri to one person from each of the ten associated nations.
The association which has promotes pan-asianism and intergovernmental cooperation includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. To mark the 25th anniversary of India’s association with the association, a summit was held in New Delhi yesterday where the leaders renewed their commitment to enhance ties between the South-east Asian grouping and its neighboring South Asian country.
The summit was chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, who chairs ASEAN for the current year with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two expressed ambitions for ASEAN and India to form a tighter bond and enhance cooperation.
The awards were rolled out to the following individuals from the nations-
1) Malai Haji Abdullah Bin Malai Haji Othman of Brunei Darussalam for his contribution in the field of medicine.
2) Hun Many of Cambodia was awarded in the public affairs section. He is Cambodia’s youngest parliamentarian and president of Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia. He is also the son of the former Prime Minister Hun Sen
3) Nyoman Nuarta, an Indonesian sculptor and one of the pioneers of the New Art movement I was also awarded
4) Datuk Ramli Bin Ibraham of Malaysia who is a classical Odissi dancer and has been a teacher of the same for the last 40 years
5) Dr Thant Myint U of Myanmar, a historian and author
6) Jose Ma Joey Concepcion III of the Philippines, CEO and president of RFM Corp
7) Tommy Koh, ambassador in the ministry of foreign affairs, Singapore
8) Somdet Phra Ariya Wongsa Khottayan, the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand who has accepted monkhood at the age of 10
9) Nguyen Tien Thien, secretary general of National Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.
10) Bounlap Keokangna of Laos ,deputy director of Vat Phou World Heritage Site who has helped in restoration of the Shiva temple of Bhadreshwara, known as Vat Phou along with ASI.