Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday flagged off the second and final leg of the India-ASEAN Car Rally, describing the 8,000-km event as a "journey into the future" that will open up the enormous potential of the region.
"I see this car rally as a journey into the future, demonstrating the possibilities that can come about in trade, tourism and people-to-people contact by bringing our countries together," the prime minister said.
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary General Ong Keng Young and Laotian Prime Minister Bounhang Vorachith were present at the ceremony here.
The ASEAN secretary general was also present when Manmohan Singh flagged off the first leg of the rally at Guwahati in Assam Nov 22.
A convoy of 60 cars, with 240 participants from 10 countries, are taking part in the rally, designed to push trade ties and showcase a viable land route through the region.
The rally will end in Batam in Indonesia Dec 11 after traversing through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore. It has already covered Myanmar.
The prime minister described the 3rd India-ASEAN Summit, which brought him to this Laotian capital, as a "milestone in this journey of common destiny".
He recalled his statement while launching the rally on its first leg that it would capture the imagination of the people in "demonstrating the essential oneness of our integrated nation".
He lauded the "high spirit of adventure and sport" among the participants and described them as "pioneers in knitting our countries together.
"In future such overland travel will become common place, as it was centuries ago," he said.
"But today there are considerable hurdles for overland travel, and I am glad that this rally proves to the world at large that difficulties can be overcome.
"The challenge before us is to put in place cooperative regional activities that will promote development and collective security for all our people."
Manmohan Singh emphasised the importance of connectivity in this era of globalisation and said it had to encompass and integrate the human, economic, infrastructural, technological and cultural dimensions.
He said the growing interaction between India and ASEAN was "critical" to fulfilling the promise of the 21st century being an "Asian century".
"By building such bridges of understanding and interaction will we increase and widen the circles of prosperity and growth," he said.
--Indo-Asian News Service