India’s Interaction with South East Asia

India has always seen South East Asia as a region of high economic growth and strategic priority. In 1992, the PV Narsimha Rao Government in India initiated the “Look East Policy” to further reinforce the relations with South East Asian countries. This policy, which is now rechristened as “Act East Policy” aims to integrate India’s economic and security interest with not only 10 members of South East Asia but also Japan, South Korea and other countries.

India-ASEAN

India has been one of the strategic partners of ASEAN. India expects not only economic partnership but also geopolitical benefits from its association with ASEAN. In 2017, India and ASEAN will complete 25 years of partnership. Currently, India has a free trade agreement with ASEAN in not only goods but also services.

We note here that once upon a time, India and China were described as two wings of the ASEAN plane. However, over the time, a huge asymmetry has been developed in these two wings, obviously Chinese wing much bigger. India has not been able to engage much with ASEAN mainly due to increased clout of China and its complicated neighborhood in eastern side. On a different note, ASEAN is faced with several disputes which involve China, so obviously the involvement of China matters more than India. For example, China has maritime issues and countries such as Indonesia and Philippines face Chinese challenge at their doorstep. India is neither a party to any dispute or it is interested to be so. Thus, Indian involvement in ASEAN is limited to cultural, economic and trade ties.

On economic front, the ASEAN-India “Trade-in-Goods Agreement” was signed in 2009 and it became operational from January 2010. This we know as India-ASEAN Free Trade Area (in Goods).

In 2015, India has also signed the free trade agreement (FTA) in services and investments with ASEAN. This new agreement is expected to pave way for free movement of professionals such as doctors to ASEAN countries and also Indian investments there. This agreement was opposed by Philippines because that country sensed Indian threat in services sector, which is strength of India.

India-APEC

APEC was primarily created for economic growth and cooperation. This is the reason that members of APEC are called Member Economies rather than Member countries and its members include Taiwan and Hong Kong also {which are not countries}.

India has requested earlier for membership in APEC and got support from US, Japan, Australia etc. In 2011, India was invited to be an observer member, full membership was not given because all its current members share some part of their border with Pacific Ocean. The APEC membership could help India in several ways such as –better position to deal / bargain in RCEP negotiations {India was not involved in TPP negotiations} and legitimising India’s standing as an Asia-Pacific power.

India and East Asia Summit

This 18 member grouping {ASEAN (10) + India, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, United States and Russia} was formed in 2005 to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity. India has been part of this summit since its inception and Indian prime ministers have participated in each of the summits of EAS.

The six priority areas of EAS are Environment and Energy, Education, Finance, Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases, Natural Disaster Management, and ASEAN Connectivity. The major highlights of India’s East Asia Summit interaction are as follows:

• In the field of Education, EAS leaders endorsed the proposal for revival of Nalanda University in 2009. India not only received support from the members but also has put in place the scholarships in Buddhist studies and other disciplines for students from these countries.
• In Global Health Issues, Australia and India are co-chairs of Task Force for Access to Quality Medicines and other Technologies Task Force (AQMTF).
• In Disaster Management, India hosted the first Meeting of the 24×7 Points of Contact among the National Disaster Response Agencies of East Asia Summit (EAS) countries on 4-5 December 2014 in New Delhi.
• Towards connectivity, India has always supported public-private partnership (PPP) towards building connectivity. Towards Maritime co-operation India has called for a more cooperative and integrated future via ocean based blue economy.

India and Mekong-Ganga Cooperation

The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Initiative (MGCI) was set up on November 10, 2000 in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The goal was to enhance cooperation amongst India and the 5 Mekong region countries – Cambodia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand. Its establishment stressed on four areas of cooperation viz. tourism, culture, education, and transportation linkage. Going ahead, five working groups were established as follows:

• Working Group on Tourism (Thailand is the lead country)
• Working Group on Education (HRD) (India is the lead country)
• Working Group on Culture (Cambodia is the lead country)
• Working Group on Communication & Transportation (Laos PDR is the lead country)
• Working Group on Plan of Actions (Vietnam is the lead country)

So far, seven ministerial meetings of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation have been held.

Assessment of MGCI

MGCI was established in 2000 via the Vientiane Declaration for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, and transport & communications. In 2001, a six year time frame for its implementation was adopted via a Hanoi Programme of action.

However, somehow the momentum was lost. Meanwhile, China intensified its relations with the other countries of MGCI under its own project called Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). Towards cultural activities, India had granted USD 1 million for establishment of a museum of traditional textiles in Siem Reap in Cambodia. Further, the MGCI countries did not play much role in Nalanda university as did Singapore and Japan.

In summary, India was much more active under ASEAN and due to this, MGCI resulted in underutilization of India’s soft power.

India and CLMV

CLMV refer to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. These four countries are the least developed ASEAN Countries.India’s current trade with CLMV countries is still much below its potential and very low both in terms of absolute value and relative share.

CLMV countries represent a bridge between India and ASEAN countries, and figure prominently in the Look East Policy. Since they are a bridge between India and ASEAN, the importance of a need of building overland, air and sea connectivity between India and the CLMV countries also cannot be overlooked. The possibilities in this regard are with Trilateral India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway Project and its extension to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

India, Myanmar and Thailand Highway

A 3,200-km highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand is expected to be ready by 2020 and will connect Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar. The project will be a significant step towards establishing connectivity between India and South East Asian countries. The highway, once completed, is expected to accrue the following advantages for India:

• It is important from India’s perspective as it will connect Manipur and other northeastern states with Thailand through Myanmar.
• It could substantially increase border trade with Myanmar, which has not picked up the way it should have because of infrastructure bottlenecks on both sides of the border but especially inside Myanmar.
• It is expected to spur growth in trade and investment in the entire region.
• India and ASEAN have become such close partners that the highway project assumes greater significance.
• Thailand is already well linked to Malaysia and Singapore, which means that the trilateral highway to Mae Sot in Thailand could in effect connect India with four of its Southeast Asian friends.

Since, connectivity through Myanmar is the bottleneck. The highway is expected to address it, once completed. However, India and Thailand should work together with Myanmar to ensure rapid completion of the missing link.