The India-ASEAN Youth Summit will be organised in Bhopal from August 14-19 by Government of Madhya Pradesh, Foreign Ministry and India Foundation. The Summit would be inaugurated by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh.
Public Relations and Water Resources Minister Narottam Mishra, while talking to media persons here on Saturday said that Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goyal would be present at the inaugural programme. On the first day there will be a lecture by film actor Anupam Kher.
Mishra said that Madhya Pradesh has been chosen for this event as the Sanchi stupa here strengthens the state’s cultural affiliation with the ASEAN countries. The event is an effort to present the work on good governance in Madhya Pradesh on the world stage in the form of a tableau. It would be a unique effort to present Madhya Pradesh Tourism on the world stage.
He said that the event would be one of the prominent events organized in India in a year. The 25-year India-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership is completing 15 years in India. Coincidentally it is also the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN. The civilizational links of the ASEAN region with India are centuries old. With this event these links can be probed from a new angle.
Taking into account the “Act East Policy” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the event becomes even more significant.
According to Mishra over 175 delegations of youth leaders under 35 years will be included in the summit. It will have participation from the ruling and opposition political parties, think tank, media, trade, bureaucracy and art and culture sectors.
The parliamentary delegation of Cambodia and Vietnam will also participate in the summit. A significant fact is that half of the representatives would be women.
Narrotam Mishra told that the chief guest at the concluding session of the summit would be Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj. Governor OP Kohli will preside over the concluding programme.
Prominent persons who would be taking part in the summit as special speakers are MPs Subhash Chandra, Baijayanti Jai Panda, Sandeep Sangma, Poonam Mahajan, Ambassador of Republic of Philippines in India, Teresita C. Daza, Singapore’s High Commissioner lim Thuan Kuan, Thailand Ambassador in India Chutintorn Gongsakdi, Myanmar Ambassador to India UMaung Wai, UN Resident Coordinator Yuri Afanasiev, Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Development Minister Archana Chitnis, Indian Women Cricket team captain Mitali Raj, UN Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake, Actor Anupam Kher, Senior fellow of Governance Studies Programme, Shamika Ravi from Brookings India, New Delhi, Foreign Policy Study Fellow Dhruv Jaishankar, ASEAN-India Coordinator Prabhakar D, Nalanda University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sunayana Singh, Foreign Ministry Secretary (East) Preeti Saran.