Bandar Seri Begawan - The much awaited Asean-India Car Rally kicked off to a grand start at the historic city of Yogyakarta, a city steeped in history and culture, yesterday at 9am. Jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and all Asean nations, the car rally commemorates 20 years of Asean-India relationship in the run up to the India-Asean Commemorative Summit to be held in New Delhi December 20-21, 2012.

The car rally aims to demonstrate the close civilisation links with Asean countries, create public awareness, promote connectivity, and enhance trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people links between Asean and India region.

The car rally will traverse a total of 8,000 kms across nine countries over 22 days with 124 participants from 11 countries including Brunei Darussalam before culminating its journey in Guwahati, India, on December 17, 2012. Later, on December 20, a ceremonial flag down will be held in New Delhi by the Indian Prime Minister and other heads of state of all Asean countries.