Leaders of ten ASEAN nations will start arriving here on Wednesday, 24 January, to attend the India-ASEAN commemorative Summit on 25 January and be the ‘Guests of Honour’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Republic Day parade at Rajpath the next day.

It will be an unprecedented show of solidarity between India and ASEAN as New Delhi pulls out all stops to woo the vibrant and resource-rich South-east Asian region in which some of the key member-nations are locked in maritime and other disputes with China.

Three ‘Cs’—Commerce, connectivity and Culture—will be the focus of the day-long summit on 25 January at the end of which India and ASEAN are expected to issue a joint declaration expressing their firm resolve to counter terrorism and intensify cooperation in diverse areas.

It was in November last year that all the ASEAN leaders confirmed their participation at the summit when PM Modi personally extended invitations to them on the margins of the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines. The ten ASEAN countries are: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to official sources, Modi has been taking personal interest in ensuring the success of the India-ASEAN commemorative summit, going into minute details of the visits of his ‘guests’ from the ASEAN nations.

‘’The Republic Day will be celebrated with leaders of all ten ASEAN countries coming to India as chief guests. This is unprecedented in India’s history,’’ the PM said in an interview to a television channel last week.

It is understood that India will woo the ten ASEAN members with mega connectivity projects while paving the way for a grand roadmap on maritime security cooperation. New Delhi is said to be relentlessly working to enhance its presence in South-east Asia and catch up with China which is making inroads in the region with its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, Beijing’s aggressive posturing against some of the key South-east Asian countries like Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea has compelled ASEAN countries to seek a greater role for India through connectivity projects so as to effectively counter China.

A Ramayana festival, which has a special connect with many of the ASEAN countries, will be one of the highlights of the summit. The leaders will also release a special Ramayana commemorative stamp on the occasion.

On the day of the summit, President Ram Nath Kovind will host a luncheon banquet in honour of the visiting leaders followed by a retreat by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It would be followed by the plenary of the summit. The PM will host a gala dinner in honour of his ASEAN guests in the evening.