Half-way across that world -- in Philippines this week -- Singh plans to plead for a new idiom that is redolent with the innocence and partnership of a pre-nuclear dawn: `Chodo kal ki baaten/Kal ki baat purani/Naye daur se likhenge/Apni nayi kahani...'. And then the crucial line in the 1960s film song adapted to more modern times: `Hum Hindustani! We're partners of Asean!'

It's the theme song of the Indian team here, all set to take a leaf out of the anti-Marcos people's revolution that swept this country just about a decade ago: When the opponent thrusts a bayonet at you, put a flower into it.

Dressed in one of the batik shirts specially ordered for the 19-odd foreign ministers attending The Big Party at the end of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) meeting and the post-ministerial conferenceon July 28, Singh will lead the `Hum Hindustani' chorus in his deep baritone. It was his idea. The remixed lyrics are authored by joint secretaries in the ministry of external affairs, otherwise feverishly engaged in the pursuit of economic and disarmament diplomacy.

In South-East Asia, it's that time of the year again. Time for the annual summit of the nine Asean nations, followed by interactions with their full dialogue partners (of which India is one) and the all-important ARF conference, responsible for discussing security-related issues in the region.

In the Asean high chair is the Philippines, battling to sustain a 1 per cent growth rate, an enormous self-confidence building measure in a region that shows little sign of recovering from its year-long ``financial flu''.

Indonesia continues to be battered by negative rates of 12-14 per cent,