Bhubaneswar: A three-day conference here will bring together delegates from various countries on a single stage as they discuss the ancient ties between India and its east and southeast Asian neighbours.
The second the Kalinga International Foundation's international conference from March 16 will see participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the wider Indo-Pacific region.
A session on bilateral ties will include speeches by ambassadors of Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines and Myanmar, the deputy high commissioner of Australia and Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry. On the Indian side, ambassadors Pinak Chakravarty, V. Suryanarayan and Deepa G. Wadhwa will respond to them.
The conference will include eight sessions on "Shared Values and Common Destiny", "Economic Co-operation", "Maritime Connectivity and Security in the Indo-Pacific", "Energy Co-operation", "Connecting Women, Youth and Civil Society", "Regional Connectivity", "Bilaterals: India's Most Favoured Nations", and "Tourism, Culture and Buddhism".
"From Odisha's powerful Kalinga empire to its Act East policy today, India's vision has continually expanded. It now extends beyond Asean to the larger Indo-Pacific region that consolidates the Indian Ocean region and the western Pacific region into a singular construct. It provides a new significance to Odisha's annual Bali yatra festival or voyage to Bali," said Kalinga International Foundation chairman Lalit Mansingh.
Sailors, merchants, scholars and artisans from this region and established links with southeast Asia as early as the 4th century BCE.
"It would be worthwhile to study the role played by economic ties in the development of cultural relations. The Sadhavas acted as messengers of peace and couriers of culture between eastern India and the Indo-Pacific region. Kalinga has, therefore, been used as a metaphor for the historic ties that bind this wider region," added Mansingh.
