Indian soldiers take part in the rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a winter morning in New Delhi, India, January 8, 2018 (Photo: REUTERS/Adnan Abidi)

As part of its 'Act East' policy, India has not only invited all ten ASEAN nations to be chief guests at the Republic Day parade this year but also has invited some of the SAARC nations for the programmes that would be held on the sidelines.

The visit, which would see summit-level representation from all the ASEAN nations, also encompasses the India-ASEAN commemorative summit celebrating 25 years of India-ASEAN relations.

During the media briefing on Wednesday, Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs said, "The India-ASEAN summit will take place on January 25, followed by the Republic Day celebrations for which all the 10 leaders from the ASEAN countries have confirmed their participation in the commemorative summit as well as to be guests of honour at the Republic Day."

While the focus of the summit would be counter-terrorism, security cooperation, trade, connectivity, maritime and defence related matters, India has a full fledged agenda planned to woo the ASEAN leaders through its soft diplomacy, cultural programmes highlighting the historical ties India has with ASEAN nations.

One major theme of the summit would be "Ramayana", an "epic tale" that connects the entire region. "Ramayana remains an important epic and a theme which is played in all ASEAN countries. It is a historical and civilisational connection of ASEAN countries with India,'' said Preeti Saran.

On the issue of terrorism, the Secretary said that it has and will "always remain on the agenda".

She said, "It (terrorism) has always remained on the agenda for discussions. We don't rule it out. When leaders sit together intimately in a retreat environment, I am sure they will be discussing different aspects, including this aspect, which concerns all of us."

In addition to what has been planned in New Delhi, the north eastern state, Assam, will also host the ASEAN leaders and the neighbouring SAARC nations in order to emphasise the importance of this entire region for the development and growth of India's North-East.

To give these interactions a further boost, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj undertook a visit to three South East Asian countries - Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore - where she was accompanied by Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonwal.

Sonowal while participating in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Singapore said that his government is stepping up efforts towards increasing interactions with ASEAN countries. Swaraj introduced Sonowal as the 'symbol of resurgence of India's north-east' after the latter launched the roadshow calling investors to participate at the "Advantage Assam: Global Investors' Summit" in Guwahati.

A number of events will be held in January next year in conjunction with the 28th anniversary of India-ASEAN partnership, one of which is the ASEAN-India Business and Investment Meet and Expo on 'Promoting Economic Integration through Enhanced Economics' in January 2018.

The Thai Ambassador heads the group of ASEAN diplomats in India and will be handing over the charge to the Vietnamese ambassador after this summit. Although, Thailand would become the country coordinator for India-ASEAN relations this year. "External Affairs Minister had very successful meetings and bilateral discussions in all the three countries. But in the ASEAN context it was significant because Thailand is going to be the country coordinator for India-ASEAN relations from July this year onwards," said Preeti Saran.