Acting East on R-Day: Why India now needs to extend its conception of neighbourhood from Saarc to Asean

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 2017  ASEAN summit in ManilaNew Delhi: India will host the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi on twenty fifth and 26th January. Leaders of 10 nations attending the summit may also be a part of the Republic Day celebrations at India Gate on twenty sixth January.Delegation of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN - Thailand Vietnam Malaysia the Philippines Singapore Myanmar Cambodia Laos and Brunei - arrived on Wednesday. The Indonesian President is scheduled to reach on Thursday. The international leaders will attend India s 69th Republic Day celebration at the India Gate on Friday.  The event will mark 25 years of India s ties with the southeast Asian bloc.The heads of kingdom will meet President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi s bilateral conferences with the journeying ASEAN leaders comes at a time while India is eager on changing its Look East policy to Act East policy.Here arethe Highlights of the ASEAN leaders arrival in New Delhi: Jan  25 201800:21 (IST) Long status conventional