As India celebrated its 69th Republic Day this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi played host to 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN as guests of honor at the ceremonial parade being held at Rajpath. The parade was presided over by President Ram Nath Kovind.
According to usual practice, only one foreign dignitary is invited as guest of honor at the Republic Day parade where India showcases its military might with a procession of troops and weaponry with the exceptions were in 1956, 1968 and 1974 and there is high security installed at each and every step.
But this year, the leaders of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei will be given the honor, the first time such a bloc has attended, India’s foreign ministry stated.
The hospitality of the delegates was well taken care of. With their national flags inscribed on all their keys of the five hotels they were staying in to pillows inscribed with their names, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had taken care of every little detail.
These invitations and hospitality have strategic implications as India’s ties with the ASEAN are improving and China’s influence on this region is slowly getting evened out. India and the ASEAN also have trade linkages in each sector. For example India contributed over 3 percent of all the tourists in this region. Also there are a huge number of Indians staying as residents in the Indian nations marking the economic and political bonds.
With PM Modi’s ‘Look East’ as ‘Act East’ agenda in 2014, the NDA government has sought a more “dynamic” and “action-oriented” approach in its relations with not just Asean, but also the wider Asia-Pacific, including putting emphasis on Japan. However, Asean continues to be the pillar of ‘Act East’, and this special summit marking the 25th anniversary of partnership with ASEAN is expected to further enhance the point.