February 18, 2016

• The Delhi Dialogue is a premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between ASEAN and India. It has been held annually since 2009.
• The 8th edition of Delhi Dialogue is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from 17-19 February 2016. The theme for Delhi Dialogue VIII is "ASEAN-India Relations : A New Paradigm." Political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders, think tanks and academicians from both sides would be participating in the discussions.
• This dialogue is being organized by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with the Institute for Defense and Strategic Analyses (IDSA), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), Singapore, SAEA Group Research, Singapore, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and ASEAN-India Centre. It is supported by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER); the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM); All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Mumbai; and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata.
• The list of confirmed participants includes H.E. Sofyan A. Djalil, Minister for National Development Planning of Indonesia and Head of National Development Planning Agency; H.E. U Tin Oo Lwin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar; H.E. Mr. Vikasakdi Futrakul, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand; H.E. Mr. Le Hoai Trung, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam; Mr. Somchith Inthamith, Vice Minister of Industry & Commerce of Lao PDR; Mr. Vikram Nair, Member of Parliament, Chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore and Chairman of the Singapore-India Parliamentary Friendship Group; H.E. Kan Pharidh, Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry of Cambodia and H.E. Dr. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary General for Community & Corporate Affairs at the ASEAN Secretariat.
• Shri T.R. Zeliang, Chief Minister of Nagaland and Shri Lal Thanhawla, Chief Minister of Mizoram will also be participating in the Ministerial Session of Delhi Dialogue VIII.
• This is the first time that Delhi Dialogue will be spread over three days, dedicating one day each for its three sessions – Business, Ministerial and Academic.
• The Business Session is scheduled on 17 February 2016 at The Oberoi in which the inaugural session will be addressed by the Presidents of FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM as well as Secretary(East), MEA. Five business chambers, namely FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, AIAI and ICC Kolkata will chair a panel discussion each in the course of the day on the following themes: (i) Co-Manufacturing: Creating Manufacturing Value Chains; (ii) What do Mega Trade Blocs- RCEP and TPP mean for ASEAN and India?; (iii) Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy for realizing India ASEAN Economic Integration; (iv) Promoting Cross Border Trade with ASEAN: Capitalising on Comparative Advantage; and (v) Start-ups and Digitization - The Way Forward.
• The Ministerial session will be held on 18 February 2016, hosted by the Hon'ble External Affairs Minister, Smt. Sushma Swaraj. In this session, there will be two panel discussions on (i) "Connectivity: Creating Pathways to a Shared Future" in which ASEAN Ministers and Chief Ministers of North Eastern States of India will participate; and (ii) on "ASEAN Economic Community and India: Integrating Regional Value Chains and Production Networks," in which Heads of Delegations from ASEAN countries will be participating.
• The Academic session will be held at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on 19 February 2016. There will be discussions among scholars and opinion makers on several topical themes, notably (i) ASEAN and the Security of the Asia-Pacific; (ii) ASEAN-India and the Ocean Economy Dynamics; (iii) Reinvigorating the Civilizational links; and (iv) Way Forward: Towards 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Relations.
• 20 media persons from ASEAN would be travelling to India to attend the event. A live webcast of the proceedings of the Business Session on 17 February 2016, Ministerial Session on 18 February 2016 and the Academic Session on 19 February 2016 will also be available.

New Delhi
February 18, 2016