This R-Day not 1 guest, but 10 -- ASEAN leaders

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be among the 10 ASEAN leaders who will be chief guests at India’s Republic Day celebrations next year.

According to official sources, 10 ASEAN leaders have been invited for the Republic Day celebrations, and almost all of them have confirmed their participation.

“The 25th anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations is being marked. And invitations were sent by the Indian government to all ASEAN leaders for the Republic Day function. And, I can confirm that our prime minister will be attending it in January,” Vietnam’s Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh said.

The envoy said the prime minister would also be attending the special India-ASEAN Summit during his visit.

Hailing the bilateral ties, Thanh said, “India and Vietnam are like two brothers.”

“Our (India-Vietnam) relations are now better than ever. Our relations with India is free from any problem, always as clear as the sky without any cloud,” he said.

India and ASEAN are observing 25 years of their Dialogue Partnership, 15 years of summit level interaction and five years of strategic partnership throughout 2017 by undertaking a wide range of activities, both in India and through missions in ASEAN member states, which would culminate in a commemorative summit on the theme “Shared Values, Common Destiny”.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 Southeast Asian states -- Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei -- which promotes regional cooperation.

“We (India and Vietnam) are two reliable partners,” the envoy said.

Thanh said Chief Justice of Vietnam would be visiting India from November 26-29 and its deputy prime minister would pay a bilateral visit in July next year.

A troupe of Vietnamese artistes will be arriving in India later this month to participate in a cultural festival in Ahmedabad. Then they will travel to Chennai and Delhi, where they will perform at the India International Trade Fair.