New Delhi: Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were among the ASEAN leaders who arrived in the national capital on Wednesday for the Commemorative India-ASEAN summit.
The summit marks 25 years of the India-ASEAN dialogue partnership. All the 10 ASEAN leaders will also be the chief guests at the Republic Day parade.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar posted a series of tweets on the arrival of these leaders.
"India welcomes Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Madame Tran Nguyen Thu for the ASEAN-India commemorative summit. Warmly received by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh," he tweeted.
While Aung San Suu Kyi was received by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, Thailand prime minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn Chan-o- cha were welcomed by Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, Kumar said.
President of Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte was also received by Satyapal Singh.
India welcomes Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Xu'n Phuc and Madame Tran Nguyen Thu for the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. Warmly received by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri Satyapal Singh #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/otlBhbzfyA
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia Samdech Techo Hun Sen India arrives in India for the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit. Warmly received by Minister of State for Textiles Shri Ajay Tamta #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/99VDTgPAuH
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar arrives for the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit. Warmly received by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ms. Anupriya Patel. #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/mHnp9CT9Xj
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Welcome to India Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore for the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit. Warmly received by Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Shri Virendra Kumar #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/CkryjvCUTr
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam received at the airport by Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. His Majesty is in India for the India ASEAN Commemorative Summit #aseanindia @hicomindBrunei pic.twitter.com/Ee7JVSPaTP
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of Philippines is in New Delhi for the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit. Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri Satyapal Singh received the President. #aseanindia @indembmanila pic.twitter.com/6FsuT7z2pe
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand and Mrs Naraporn Chan-o-cha were warmly welcomed by MoS @Gen_VKSingh for the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit. #aseanindia @IndiainThailand pic.twitter.com/Mim9zKqHfS
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Prime Minister of Malaysia Nazib Razak and Mrs. Rosmah Mansor were warmly received in New Delhi by Minister of State for Finance Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla. Welcome Prime Minister Razak. #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/8ahDtXE1Or
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Meanwhile, amid the Rohingya refugee crisis, India and Myanmar on Wednesday discussed ties in a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Also, India and Vietnam signed agreements in the areas of information and broadcasting, and space cooperation following a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
PM Modi also met President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.
PM @narendramodi met with State Counsellor of Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The two leaders had a productive discussion on intensifying bilateral cooperation, including follow up on key decisions taken during PM's visit to Myanmar in September 2017. #ASEANIndia #ActEast pic.twitter.com/VwW7V9M4qG
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Long standing traditional & strategic partnership! PM @narendramodi met with Vietnamese PM Nguyễn Phúc. Discussed cooperation in trade and investment, defence, maritime & other areas. Agreements were signed in areas of Information & Broadcasting and Space cooperation #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/V5UsNYXhcY
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
Adding momentum to the close relationship! PM @narendramodi met with President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. Trade and investment, defence & security, education and people-to-people cooperation were discussed. An agreement to facilitate investment was signed. #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/qmojpsbIDI
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2018
The summit will begin from Thursday. There will be a leaders' retreat during which the leaders will have a "free and frank" discussion on January 25, 2018. The theme of the retreat session is 'maritime cooperation and security'.
Following the retreat, a plenary session will be held on the same day, PTI reported.
ASEAN comprises Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos and Brunei.
Need to propagate India-ASEAN special ties among youth: Swaraj
Meanwhile, highlighting the strong cultural bonds between India and ASEAN countries, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said on Tuesday that there was a need to propagate this "special relationship" amongst the youth of both the regions.
EAM @SushmaSwaraj emphasizes on youth power at the ASEAN India Youth Award, one of the penultimate events in run-up to the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit. Link at https://t.co/aZBGUcdmTn #aseanindia pic.twitter.com/mipp1b9w9z
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 23, 2018
There are mainly two things that connect India with ASEAN, one is Buddhism and the other is Ramayana, she had said.
"From the government of India's side, we would like to institutionalise the relationship through a permanent mechanism so that the youth of ASEAN countries can partake our cultural and religious ethos and become true ambassadors of India in their countries," the EAM had said.
Swaraj had also said that India cannot become a member of ASEAN because of geographical reason as this grouping is of South East Asian nations while India lies in South Asia.
She had added that the cultural bonds between India and ASEAN countries were centuries old and the "onus was on us to propagate this special relationship amongst the youth in both the regions."
(With PTI inputs)
