THE route of a car rally organised to highlight the relationship between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been extended to include three more countries, said a spokesperson for one of the event’s main sponsors.

“The Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Goh Chok Tong, asked that the car rally end in his country, so we forwarded this request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in India, which agreed to extend the length,” said Mr Rajive Kaul, a past-president of sponsoring Confederation of Indian Industry.

The new route will also add Malaysia and Indonesia. The final presentation ceremony will occur at the finish in Singapore rather than in Bangkok, as previously scheduled.

U Tun Thant, the deputy director of the Sports and Physical Education Department under the Ministry of Sports, participated in the initial route survey in March but said he has not received official confirmation of the new course.

The revised schedule is to be announced, but the rally is set to start in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati on November 23 and reach Mandalay on November 26.

After leaving Myanmar the rally participants will travel through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and back to Thailand.

The event is being jointly organised by India’s ministries of External Affairs and Development of the Northeastern States, and the Confederation of Indian Industry, in cooperation with ASEAN and the Federation of Motor Sport Clubs of India.

“Including all the business events that coincide with rally, the total cost of the event will be about US $1.5 million,” said Mr Kaul.

The rally is expected to attract about 60 vehicles and more than 200 participants.