Elephants hold a special place in the hearts of Southeast Asians. And if it's a white elephant, it becomes a matter of hope and good fortune.
The upcoming round of talks, slated for October 11-12, is expected to be a stormy one.
Mark Webber kept Red Bull on course for a 14th pole position in as many races this season, when he lapped fastest in final free practice for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday.
So far, two rounds of negotiations have already taken place in this regard. India signed a Free Trade Agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in August, which will come into effect from January 1, and is committed to begin breaking duty barriers on goods.
'I thought of a suppressed country and a free world.' 'If we travel from one to another, what will that road look like?' 'What colours, music there will be? What kind of people would you see?'
In the midst of a war of words between the two countries, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday expressed his desire to meet his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.The Chinese leader's remarks come a day after Beijing raked up its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, questioning Prime Minister Singh's visit there on October 3. India hit back on Wednesday, reacting strongly to Chinese plans to get involved in projects in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
Singapore officials are confident the race-fixing scandal surrounding Renault will not impact next week's F1 Grand Prix in the Southeast Asian city-state. Renault will appear before the FIA in Paris on Monday charged with ordering Brazilian Nelson Piquet to crash deliberately in last year's inaugural race in Singapore to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.
'If you look at where inflation (headline and core) is today in India and where the rates are, there's clearly room to cut rates.'
Pakistan and Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to begin talks for a Free Trade Agreement to boost Islamabad's efforts towards achieving full dialogue partner status with the ten-member regional economic grouping.
Describing the boundary question with China as a "complex issue", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said it cannot be "wished away" and both sides have an obligation to maintain peace and tranquility pending a solution.
The World Health Organisation on Saturday said there is "no threat" to the polio-free status of all Southeast Asian region countries, including India
India on Wednesday asked industralised countries not to put the onus on developing nations in bringing down greenhouse emission levels as it would affect their development.
Former England captain Bryan Robson agreed on Wednesday to become coach of Thailand's national team in his first foray into international football management, the Thai FA chief said.
Consumers can expect duty-free imports of a range of products like capital goods, some textiles, electronic goods and chemicals from next year after India successfully concluded negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement for goods with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore on Thursday.
Liverpool supporters in Singapore had no hesitation in making a few financial sacrifices to see their team in action when the 18-times English champions arranged to play a friendly in the city-state Sunday.
The multi-nation exercises were slated to be held in January 2005, but were postponed because of the tsunami tragedy.
Muslim gymnast, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, of Malaysia was criticised for wearing revealing leotard.
The plant at Magwe, near Yangon, will be funded by a line of credit from the Indian government and is expected to be operational by the last quarter of 2010-11, Tata Motors said.
Wen has postponed an official visit to the Philippines, which was originally scheduled for December 13-14, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced in Beijing on Sunday.
The announcement to admit Pakistan in ASEM was made at Helsinki on Monday following the sixth Summit of the organisation.
In the document, Russia underlined that it will build on a privileged strategic partnership with India with a view to enhance and expand cooperation in all areas on a mutually beneficial basis.
Opening the plenary on Tuesday morning, Singapore premier Lee Hsein Loong said the ASEAN leaders will strive to prevent the Myanmar issue "from obstructing efforts to deepen integration and build an ASEAN Community" after the grouping abruptly withdrew an invitation to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to address the summit following Yangaon's objection.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is engaged in confidential talks with Tata Sons for merging Vistara with Air India, the flagship carrier of the Republic of Singapore informed the stock exchange in the Southeast Asian nation on Thursday in a first acknowledgement of a possible integration of the two airlines. "In line with its multi-hub strategy, SIA is currently in confidential discussions with the Tatas to explore a potential transaction in relation to the securities of Vistara and Air India. "The discussions seek to deepen the existing partnership between SIA and Tatas and may include a potential integration of Vistara and Air India," SIA said in a notification to the Singapore stock exchange. SIA owns 49 per cent stake in Vistara and is among the four airlines run by Tata Group.
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father and first prime minister, passed away on Monday at the age of 91.
Indian tourists are increasingly settling for other destinations such as Southeast Asian countries, Australia, and New Zealand.
An airlines industry body has sought reduction in customs and excise duties on aviation turbine fuel and allowing private firms to supply it to bring down prices.
India will not be signing the ambitious Free Trade Agreement with the 10-nation economic bloc, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, at the 4th East Asia summit to be held in Thailand on April 11 and 12. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath will be attending the summit, where the seventh India-Asean meeting is also scheduled at the same venue.
At least 35 per cent, or $400 billion worth of goods, that are sourced from China could shift to countries such as India, Thailand, Vietnam among others over the next 10 years, according to a study by US-based retail and supply chain solutions firm DCB and Company. India is expected to take the lion's share of volume shift compared to its counterparts in the region, the study says, due to its IT prowess, infrastructure and agents network.
Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal said his airlines, if given permission, would start off by flying to Southeast Asian countries.
China will honour its Free Trade Area agreements with its trading partners, levy negotiated tariffs on some Indian goods
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is expected to sign a free trade agreement with India next week, Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz has said.
"The decision has nothing to do with warnings from the United States, Britain and Australia earlier this week that terrorists were planning to bomb the gathering."
