Countering China

Power diplomacy: Stage set for India-ASEAN summit

vietnam-pm-arrive-delhi-afp Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc (second from left) being welcomed on his arrival in Delhi | AFP

The stage is set for a mega diplomatic show—the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit—as the heads of state of 10 ASEAN member nations started arriving in Delhi. From group photos at the historic Mughal Gardens to jointly witnessing the Republic Day parade, the event will be high on optics.

The two-day event beginning on Thursday will showcase the growing cultural and economic ties between India and these countries. After the successful visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, the India-ASEAN Summit will be an occasion for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hard-sell India and his own image as an international leader.

Diplomatically, the success of the summit, which has its theme 'Shared Values, Common Destiny', will attempt to send a message to China. The neighbouring country has used its 'One Belt, One Road' initiative to show its prowess. It is now India's turn.

The event will start with bilateral meetings on Thursday at Hyderabad House, which will be followed by lunch hosted by the president at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Then, Modi will hold an exclusive retreat with the heads of state of Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam, all ASEAN members. Interestingly, the theme of this retreat has been kept as maritime cooperation and security.

As China tries to flex its muscles, India is increasing its maritime engagement with these nations as a counterbalance. A walk and group photo in the Mughal Gardens—after the retreat—will provide visual assertion of this growing engagement with the neighbours.

On the same day, there will be the release of a commemorative stamp and again a family group photo. In the evening, the plenary session on 'Shared Values, Common Destiny' will talk about shared history. India is using Buddhism and Ramayana as unifying themes to bring out the shared cultural values.

But the biggest show will come the next day when all the guests will be present at Rajpath to witness India's military, economic and cultural might during the Republic Day parade.

Modi as prime minister has used the Republic Day parade for scoring diplomatic wins. The presence of 10 leaders is bound to send a message to India's recalcitrant neighbours.

Currently, ASEAN is India's fourth-largest trading partner as the trade between them stood at $71 billion.

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Topics : #Asean | #Republic Day | #china

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