New Delhi [India], Jan 26 (NT): In a unique move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening declared Padma Shri award for one individual from each Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) country.

The Padma Shri award will be bestowed in lead Brunei's Malai Haji Abdullah Bin MalaiHaji Othman, Cambodia's Hun Many, Indonesia's I NyomanNuarta, Laos' BounlapKeokangna, Malaysia's Datuk Ramli Bin Ibraham, Myanmar's Dr Thant Myint-U, Philippines' Jose Ma Joey Concepcion III, Singapore's Tommy Koh, Thailand's SomdetPhraAriyaWongsaKhottayan, Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Thien.

The declaration of the prestigious award comes on the occasion of silver jubilee of India-ASEAN ties and the 69th Republic Day.

On Friday, all 10 ASEAN leaders will be the chief guests at Republic Day celebrations.

ASEAN is a 10-nation group, which includes--Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 1 Observer - Papua New Guinea.

In this occasion, PM Modi released a set of postage stamps which mark 25 years of ASEAN-India ties along with ASEAN-leaders.

PM Modi expressed his sentiments “Presence of all ASEAN leaders in India has touched every Indian. We are focusing on improving ties in trade, connectivity, tourism, technology, security with ASEAN countries. Sharing my remarks at the Plenary Session this evening,” PM tweeted.