Manmohan Singh in Southeast Asia
27 Oct, 2010 · 3267
Panchali Saikia highlights key issues at stake in the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to the region
.JPG)
Enhancing integration towards its east in terms of economic and strategic connectivity, and continuing affiliation with ASEAN, is at the heart of India’s ‘Look East Policy.’ The policy enunciated in 1992 mostly focusing on economic initiatives soon transcended this dimension to cover political, military and regional security dimensions after India was accorded full ASEAN dialogue partner status in 1995. With SAARC’s inability to enhance intra-regional trade or to counter China’s influence, India is now getting increasingly integrated with ASEAN.
ASEAN is India’s fourth-largest trading partner and hence is vital for India’s vision of an Asian economic community. With frequent political level interactions and visits by heads of the states, the relationship between India and Southeast Asian countries have improved significantly. Giving added thrust to the ‘Look East Policy,’ Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has embarked on a journey to the east to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam from 24-30 October 2010. The Prime Minister’s visit is to reiterate India’s commitment to further strengthen multifaceted bilateral relations with Southeast Asian and East Asian countries.
The first visit by Manmohan Singh to Malaysia as Prime Minister will be a landmark in reinforcing the rich cultural and historical links between India and Malaysia. This visit will be marked by talks on economic cooperation, integration in terms of infrastructure development, information technology, bio-technology, defence, railways, energy cooperation and greater-people-to-people linkages. This meeting will see the inauguration of the first meeting of the Malaysia-India CEO Forum and revival of the highway project between India and Malaysia that has been long delayed. India is also hoping to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Malaysia that has been in discussion since 2008 and which Kuala Lumpur appears to be delaying. It needs to be remembered that so far, out of the 10 ASEAN countries, only Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have ratified the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement with India.
Singh will visit Vietnam for the 8th India-ASEAN Summit and the 5th East Asia Summit to be held on 30 October 2010. Indian leaders will hold bilateral talks with ASEAN and EAS leaders on the sidelines of the summits. The India-ASEAN summit will have the India-ASEAN Plan of Action for 2010-15 as the big item on its agenda. Both India and ASEAN are keen to liberalize the trade in services and investments that will provide new opportunities for the expansion of trade between them. ASEAN under its connectivity scheme looks forward to implementing the Comprehensive Asian Development Plan that will provide a road linking India with ASEAN, creating the Mekong-India economic corridor. The East Asian Summit that will be held on the same day will deliberate on energy, environment, financial cooperation, education and plans for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership of East Asia (CEPEA) and the creation of the Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
The Indian Prime Minister is likely to also discuss bilateral ties with Vietnamese leaders. Both India and Vietnam approved setting up of a joint committee to strengthen their cooperation in the trade, investment and agricultural production sectors earlier this year. India has extended support to Vietnam to enhance and upgrade its capabilities in the defence sector and to help Vietnam to train forces for maintaining international peace and stability. Vietnam, on the other hand, will provide assistance in the repair and maintenance of Indian naval ships. Both the countries will share their experience and knowledge by developing linkages and cooperation among their defence institutions. All of these have implications for the South China Sea disputes and show that India is taking a greater interest in security matters in the region.
While the most important drive for Singh’s visit is economic cooperation, India also needs to address several other issues. One is the matter of the rights and status of the Indian diaspora settled in Southeast Asian countries. For instance, ethnic Indians in Malaysia suffer from various kinds of discrimination. Next, India should revive and deepen its regional engagement through the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation initiative and with other regional schemes such as BIMSTEC, as well as initiate more cooperation with the ADB, World Bank, and IMF that will help in providing assistance in facilitating trade and promoting development in the region. Meanwhile, ASEAN should extend its supportive hand to India’s entry to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and in the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), a mechanism created in March 2010 to help manage future regional financial crises. At the same time, India should also continue to pursue bilateral FTAs with each ASEAN nation.
It is too early to say what negotiations and agreements will be finalized and how these negotiations will boost trade ties between the regions and benefit India. However, at the political level, India intends to gain more support for its candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council and to create a framework to mark 20 years of ASEAN-India Dialogue during the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in 2012 in New Delhi.
ASEAN is India’s fourth-largest trading partner and hence is vital for India’s vision of an Asian economic community. With frequent political level interactions and visits by heads of the states, the relationship between India and Southeast Asian countries have improved significantly. Giving added thrust to the ‘Look East Policy,’ Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has embarked on a journey to the east to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam from 24-30 October 2010. The Prime Minister’s visit is to reiterate India’s commitment to further strengthen multifaceted bilateral relations with Southeast Asian and East Asian countries.
The first visit by Manmohan Singh to Malaysia as Prime Minister will be a landmark in reinforcing the rich cultural and historical links between India and Malaysia. This visit will be marked by talks on economic cooperation, integration in terms of infrastructure development, information technology, bio-technology, defence, railways, energy cooperation and greater-people-to-people linkages. This meeting will see the inauguration of the first meeting of the Malaysia-India CEO Forum and revival of the highway project between India and Malaysia that has been long delayed. India is also hoping to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Malaysia that has been in discussion since 2008 and which Kuala Lumpur appears to be delaying. It needs to be remembered that so far, out of the 10 ASEAN countries, only Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have ratified the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement with India.
Singh will visit Vietnam for the 8th India-ASEAN Summit and the 5th East Asia Summit to be held on 30 October 2010. Indian leaders will hold bilateral talks with ASEAN and EAS leaders on the sidelines of the summits. The India-ASEAN summit will have the India-ASEAN Plan of Action for 2010-15 as the big item on its agenda. Both India and ASEAN are keen to liberalize the trade in services and investments that will provide new opportunities for the expansion of trade between them. ASEAN under its connectivity scheme looks forward to implementing the Comprehensive Asian Development Plan that will provide a road linking India with ASEAN, creating the Mekong-India economic corridor. The East Asian Summit that will be held on the same day will deliberate on energy, environment, financial cooperation, education and plans for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership of East Asia (CEPEA) and the creation of the Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
The Indian Prime Minister is likely to also discuss bilateral ties with Vietnamese leaders. Both India and Vietnam approved setting up of a joint committee to strengthen their cooperation in the trade, investment and agricultural production sectors earlier this year. India has extended support to Vietnam to enhance and upgrade its capabilities in the defence sector and to help Vietnam to train forces for maintaining international peace and stability. Vietnam, on the other hand, will provide assistance in the repair and maintenance of Indian naval ships. Both the countries will share their experience and knowledge by developing linkages and cooperation among their defence institutions. All of these have implications for the South China Sea disputes and show that India is taking a greater interest in security matters in the region.
While the most important drive for Singh’s visit is economic cooperation, India also needs to address several other issues. One is the matter of the rights and status of the Indian diaspora settled in Southeast Asian countries. For instance, ethnic Indians in Malaysia suffer from various kinds of discrimination. Next, India should revive and deepen its regional engagement through the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation initiative and with other regional schemes such as BIMSTEC, as well as initiate more cooperation with the ADB, World Bank, and IMF that will help in providing assistance in facilitating trade and promoting development in the region. Meanwhile, ASEAN should extend its supportive hand to India’s entry to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and in the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), a mechanism created in March 2010 to help manage future regional financial crises. At the same time, India should also continue to pursue bilateral FTAs with each ASEAN nation.
It is too early to say what negotiations and agreements will be finalized and how these negotiations will boost trade ties between the regions and benefit India. However, at the political level, India intends to gain more support for its candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council and to create a framework to mark 20 years of ASEAN-India Dialogue during the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in 2012 in New Delhi.
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