ACT EAST: ASEAN-INDIA SHARED CULTURAL HERITAGE Culture is the key to the India-ASEAN partnership. Shared histori- cal ties, culture and knowledge continue to underpin India’s sustained interactions with Southeast Asia. The commonalities between India and Southeast Asia provide a platform for building synergies with the countries of the region. As India’s engagement with the ASEAN moves forward with support of the Act East Policy (AEP), the socio-cultural linkages between the two regions can be utilized effectively to expand collaboration, beyond economic and political domains into areas of education, tourism ACT EAST: and people to people contact. This book presents historical and contemporary dimensions between India and Southeast Asia with particular reference to cultural heritage. One of the recommenda- ASEAN-INDIA tions of this book is to continue our efforts to preserve, protect, and restore cultural heritage that represents the civilisational bonds SHARED CULTURAL between ASEAN and India. The book will serve as a knowledge product for policymakers, academics, private sector experts and HERITAGE regional cooperation practitioners; and is a must-read for anyone interested in the cultural heritage. fodkl'khy ns'kksa dh vuqla/ku ,oa lwpuk iz.kkyh Core IV-B, Fourth Floor, India Habitat Centre ACT EAST: ASEAN-INDIA SHARED CULTURAL HERITAGE ASEAN-INDIA SHARED CULTURAL ACT EAST: Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003, India Tel.: +91-11-2468 2177-80, Fax: +91-11-2468 2173-74 AIC E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] AIC fodkl'khy ns'kksa dh vuqla/ku ,oa lwpuk iz.kkyh ASEAN-India Centre at RIS Website: www.ris.org.in; http://aic.ris.org.in ASEAN-India Centre at RIS Act East: ASEAN-India Shared Cultural Heritage Act East: ASEAN-India Shared Cultural Heritage iv Act East: ASEAN-India Shared Cultural Heritage First Published in 2019 by Core IV-B, Fourth Floor, India Habitat Centre Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003, India Tel.: +91-11-2468 2177-80, Fax: +91-11-2468 2173-74 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: www.ris.org.in; http://aic.ris.org.in ISBN No.: 81-7122-140-8 Copyright © AIC and RIS All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be produced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without permission from the publisher and the copyright holder. Cover Design: Sachin Singhal Contents Foreword .............................................................................................. vii Preface ................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments ................................................................................... xi List of Tables, Figures and Maps ......................................................... xiii List of Abbreviations ......... ................................................................ xvii List of Contributors ...............................................................................xix 1. Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Prabir De Part I 2. Shared Cultural Heritage: Towards A Sustainable Future .............. 9 Himanshu Prabha Ray 3. Commercial Interactions between India and Southeast Asia during the Medieval Period and Future Interaction between ASEAN and India ......................................................................... 25 K. Selvakumar 4. Maritime Relations between Peninsular India and Southeast Asia: An Archaeological Perspective ..................................................... 45 K. Rajan 5. A Study on Ancient Culture and Civilization Links between India and Myanmar ................................................................................ 85 Mya Mya Thaung Part II 6. Women in Monastic Buddhism in Southeast Asia: An Agenda for Archaeological Research ............................................................ 111 Garima Kaushik 7. Circulation of Buddhist maṇḍalas in Maritime Asia: A Study of the Art of the Buddhist Diamond Triangle of Odisha (India) and Borobodur–Candi Mendut in Java .............................................. 119 Umakanta Mishra vi Act East: ASEAN-India Shared Cultural Heritage 8. The Mudra in the Dances of ASEAN: A Hypothesis ................. 141 Haji Mohd Abdoh Bin Haji Awang Damit Part III 9. Some Prospects of ASEAN-India Partnership in Culture .......... 151 Sophana Srichampa 10. Building Synergies through Digitalization ................................. 163 Nilima Chitgopekar 11. South and Southeast Asian Interactions: Contexts for Renewal ................................................................................. 167 Niharika Gupta 12. Through the Lens of Art: Setting the Context to Indian Heritage in Singapore and Southeast Asia ................................................. 175 Nalina Gopal 13. Cultural Role in ASEAN-India Relations for the World Peace ... 191 Andrik Purwasito 14. Strengthening Cultural Relations through the Role of Museum Institutions ................................................................... 201 Mohamad Shawali bin Haji Badi 15. Enhancing India-Philippines Cooperation in Culture ................. 209 Joefe B. Santarita 16. Cultural Relation between India and Vietnam: Toward a Profound Partnership for Future Development .......................................... 223 Nguyen Thi Thu Ha Appendix Summary of the Conference ............................................................... 235 Agenda ................................................................................................ 243 Keynote Address by Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh ....................................... 247 Inaugural Remarks by H.E. A.M. Fachir ............................................ 253 Remarks by H.E. Nguyen Quoc Dzung .............................................. 255 Foreword Ambassador (Dr.) Mohan Kumar Chairman, RIS ASEAN-India relations are firmly embedded in culture, commerce and connectivity (3Cs). Shared historical ties, culture and knowledge have continued to underpin India’s sustained interactions with Southeast Asia. Culture is the key to the India-ASEAN partnership. ASEAN-India relation is one of the cornerstones of India’s foreign policy and the Act East policy (AEP). Starting as a sectoral partner of ASEAN in 1992, India became a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1996, a summit-level partner in 2002 and strategic partner in 2012. On January 25, 2018, India and ASEAN celebrated 25 years of its partnership, at a Commemorative Summit in New Delhi, with the participation of Heads of State/Government from all the ten countries of ASEAN and India. For the first time, all the ten ASEAN leaders also attended India’s Republic Day Celebrations on January 26, 2018, in New Delhi, as Guests of Honour. At the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, held on 25 January 2018, our leaders have outlined their vision on the future of ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership, where they have identified cultural relations as one of the key areas of ASEAN-India partnership. The ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in collaboration with the Indian Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, and ASEAN Secretariat organized the 2nd International Conference on “ASEAN-India Cultural Links: Historical and Contemporary Dimensions”, held at Jakarta on 19 January 2017. Several scholars and experts from India and ASEAN presented their research papers at this Conference. This publication Act East: ASEAN – India Shared Cultural Heritage is an outcome of this Conference. This book presents essays on India’s cultural links with Southeast Asia, with particular reference to cultural heritage. viii Act East: ASEAN-India Shared Cultural Heritage I would like to record my appreciation of the efforts that have been put by my colleague, Dr. Prabir De and his team, in putting together this volume. I wish to thank Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, RIS for his support and cooperation. I am certain that this publication will be a valuable reference for policymakers, academics and practitioners. Mohan Kumar Preface India attaches the highest importance to its historical relations with South East Asia, with ASEAN being at the centre. This is emphatically reflected in India’s “Act East” policy, which in fact is culmination of its earlier, “Look East” policy. While the economic dimensions of ASEAN- India partnership are the key to deepening the relationship, the historical linkages is the corner stone of this strong edifice. This relationship also draws sustenance from promoting people-to-people contacts at different levels in the backdrop of rich history of civilizational links, and in this context added emphasis is given to three dimensions of ASEAN-India relations: culture, commerce and connectivity. RIS since early nineties has been engaged in providing policy research inputs for strengthening ASEAN-India cooperation, when India became a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN. Among other initiatives, the India-ASEAN Eminent Persons’ Lecture Series was also launched in December 1996 to facilitate people-to-people interactions. Later, the ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) was set up at the RIS. In order to discuss the special significance of cultural issues in the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership, the AIC at RIS, in collaboration with the Indian Embassy to ASEAN in Jakarta; Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry; and ASEAN Secretariat organized the 2nd International Conference