India will host meet against radicalisation

New Delhi: India will organise a global conference with Asean nations on the issue of countering radicalisation and offer 1,000 Ph.D. fellowships in its Indian Institutes of Techonolgy (IITs) to scholars from the 10 countries as part of New Delhi’s strategy to play a bigger role in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China.

The proposal to engage Asean nations in the fight against radicalisation was shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a day when India in an unprecedented strategic outreach hosted leaders from the 10 Asean nations as chief guests at the 69th Republic Day celebrations on Friday.

MEA’s secretary (east) Preeti Saran told reporters that India will host a global conference against terror. “Terrorism knows no borders... Terrorism does not have a religion,” Ms. Saran said.

The fellowships are aimed at engaging the youth in the Asean region, she said.

Mr Modi also continued to press for greater engagement with the Asean region with an op-ed written by him on Indo-Asean ties appearing in 27 newspapers in 10 languages in the 10 Asean countries. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, “27 newspapers in 10 languages in 10 Asean countries! Op-ed by PM@narendramodi on the historic occasion of 69th Republic Day & Asean-India Commemorative Summit. Exceptional gesture of friendship nurtured by shared culture & civilizational linkages!”

The 10 participating Asean  dignitaries —Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Myanmar’s State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Brunei Sultan (ruler) Hassanal Bolkiah, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and Indonesian President Joko Widodo — who attended the Asean -India Summit on Thursday attended India’s Republic Day Parade at Rajpath on Friday.

MEA sources said the issue of efforts to counter radicalisation and extremism figured during separate bilateral meetings that Mr Modi had with Indonesian President Joko Widodo late on Thursday evening and with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday.

However, the MEA clarified that the issue regarding Indian radical preacher Zakir Naik, who is believed to be in Malaysia, did not figure in the bilateral meeting between Mr Modi and Malaysian PM Razak.

Mr Kumar tweeted, “An important strategic partner! PM @narendramodi met with Malaysian Prime Minister @NajibRazak. Two leaders had an engaging discussion on defence and security, trade and investment, counter terrorism and people to people links.”

The MEA said that Indonesian President Joko Widodo has invited Mr Modi to visit his country, an invitation which was accepted.

Mr Modi also had another bilateral meeting with Laos Prime Minister. Among other issues, the MEA said that there was discussion on the ongoing defence cooperation with Laos, including capacity-building.

Earlier, the MEA made painstaking efforts to synchronise the arrival of the 10 Asean heads of state/government at the R-Day parade to ensure there was no delay in the parade. The MEA had conveyed to the Asean delegations subtly that there would be about 600 million Indians, in all, watching the parade and that the R-Day parade had never been delayed.

The hotel suite keys of all the 10 Asean leaders had the images of their respective national flags emblazoned on them. This gesture touched the leaders who expressed their appreciation, said sources.

The two tableaux at the R-Day parade showcasing Indo-Asean ties were on binding ancient historical factors such as Buddhism and trade links.

The Indian government also conferred 10 Padma Shri awards on 10 scholars, one from each Asean country. These included diplomats, scholars, conservationists, religious figures, classical dancers, sculptors, entrepreneurs, social activists and parliamentarians.