The 2nd ASEAN – India Car Rally

ASEAN and India have always had warm and friendly ties and it is not the first time that a car rally was being organised. The 1^st ASEAN – India Car Rally was flagged off from Guwahati, India, on 22 November 2004, by the present Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Rally made its way through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore before coming to an end in Batam, Indonesia on 11 December 2004 covering the total distance of 8,000 km with 240 participants and using 60 vehicles. After 8 years of period, both the regions had come up with the ASEAN – India Car Rally 2012, with a difference, by taking the reverse route as was covered in the 1^st rally in 2004.

The ASEAN – India Car Rally 2012, from 25 November to 20 December 2012, commemorates 20 years of ASEAN – India relations to highlight the geographical proximity and strong socio-cultural and historical bonds shared buy the two regions.

This time the rally was organised on the reverse route jointly by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (India), Member countries of ASEAN, Confederation of Indian Industries and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India.

This time the Rally featured 125 participants from 11 countries travelling together in 31 Mahindra & Mahindra SUVs, which covered 8000 km over 22 days. Thailand is the only country that saw the rally passing twice while proceeding and returning from Laos to enter Myanmar. The Rally got flagged down in Guwahati after entering into Northeast’s border trade point Moreh in Manipur & Kohima and Dimapur towns in Nagaland on 17 December. It was finally received by the leaders of ASEAN and India in New Delhi on 20 December coinciding with the ASEAN – India Commemorative Summit.

The aim of the ASEAN – India Car Rally can be summarized into three objectives which are as follows:-

1. To spread the awareness about the robust bond between the India and the 10 Nations bloc ASEAN
2. To lay emphasis on the development of Trilateral Highway to promote connectivity between India, Myanmar and Thailand
3. At last but surely not the least, to clearly indicate ASEAN’s confidence in the stable economic growth of the Asian giants like India and China. As their fulcrum of confidence got shaken from most of the European countries which experienced worst global economic slow-down in the recent past.

At the 8^th ASEAN – India Summit in October 2010, the leaders from both India and ASEAN had reaffirmed their commitment to achieve bilateral trade target of US $ 70 billion by 2012, which they not only achieved it but also surpassed it making it to reach near US $ 80 billion.

Thailand Ambassador to India H.E. Mr. Pisan Manawapat told media persons during a press conference at Dimapur in Nagaland that the ASEAN which had already signed a comprehensive free trade treaty with India, would be ‘a community of nations of free people, goods and services’ in 2015. He also said that with the better and easier connectivity, the North-east could be the gateway to ASEAN region and both NAGALAND and ASSAM could reap the immense economic benefit out of such enhanced cooperation.

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Written By:-

Mr. Priyesh Narain

Economic Assistant

Royal Thai Embassy