Second Asean-India car rally to begin in Indonesia

The second edition of the Asean-India Car Rally to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Asean-India relations will start in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Nov 26.

India's Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia, Aseem R.Mahajan said 124 government officials from eight Asean countries and India will be involved in the expedition covering a distance of 7,816 kilometres in 23 days.

The eight Asean countries involved are Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

"This car rally is held to highlight the long-standing link between India and Asean countries, the road connectivity, people-to-people contact and also tourism as approximately a total of 700,000 Indian nationals came to Malaysia last year," Aseem said.

He said 31 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) of the XUV 500 model supplied by India's car-maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), would be used in the expedition.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to flag off the expedition in Putrajaya on Nov 28 after the group arrives from Singapore.

"The expedition will conclude on Dec 20 in New Delhi, India with the presence of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of the eight participating Asean countries," he said.

The first edition of the India-Asean Car Rally took place from Nov 23 to Dec 6 in 2004, covering eight countries. It had 240 participants in 60 vehicles. The rally, cutting across all countries of peninsular Southeast Asia, involved a distance of 8,000 km, starting in Guwahati, Assam, and ending in Singapore.