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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
three-nation visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam marks a
reassertion of India's resolve to pursue its "Look East Policy" to
achieve its strategic, geo-political and economic goals.
The signing of a commitment to expand trade with Malaysia next
week, a number of pacts with Vietnam and an understanding with
Japan on nuclear energy are the highlights of his tour.
That the Look East Policy - begun in the nineties under then prime
minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in whose government Manmohan Singh was
the finance minister - has received priority is clear from
Manmohan's decision not to visit New York this September for the
UN General Assembly, an ideal venue for world leaders to hold
bilateral discussions on the sidelines.
The man who pushed for the free trade agreement (FTA) with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wants to reach out
to a 550 million-strong consumer market that exudes a magnetic
appeal to the world's industry. Besides the large consumer base,
the region is rich in raw materials and energy, which India badly
needs for its future development.
India has obvious constraints in its own region, where the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has not done
too well. It is hardly surprising that India's External Affairs
Minister S.M. Krishna recently pointed to the dynamic growth rates
posted in trade and investment in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Cooperation between India and ASEAN has moved at a fast pace since
India launched its economic reforms and the Look East Policy in
the 1990s. India was a full dialogue partner at the fifth ASEAN
Summit in Bangkok in 1995 and became a member of the ASEAN
Regional Forum in 1996. India and ASEAN have held summit meetings
annually since 2002.
Manmohan will be at the eighth ASEAN-India summit in Vietnam next
week.
An FTA with ASEAN signed in August last year in Thailand will
boost the group's economic and trade relations with India. India's
trade with ASEAN has surged from $39.08 billion (RM122 billion) in
2007-08 to $45.34 billion in 2008-09. There is great potential for
trade and investment between India and ASEAN.
Forming the backdrop of the Manmohan visit to the region was one
last month by President Pratibha Patil to Laos and Cambodia. Not
only were cultural agreements signed but business talk was also
conducted.
The state visits have, in the past, been largely ceremonial in
nature. But, now, business delegations accompany the head of
state. Patil's delegation had 45 business people. This is a recent
trend and constitutes a significant change that allows economic
ties to drive bilateral and multilateral relations.
Patil said the engagement with Cambodia and Laos was set to
substantially expand, and would be taken forward bilaterally and
through ASEAN. In Laos, India extended a credit line of $72.55
million to finance two power projects. In Cambodia, Patil signed
two agreements, the first between the comptroller and
auditor-general of India and the National Audit Authority of
Cambodia, and the second for a $15 million credit line between
EXIM Bank and the Cambodian government for Phase II of the Stung
Tassal water development project.
Cambodia is the country coordinator for India in ASEAN and will
occupy the ASEAN chair in 2012, when India hosts the commemorative
India-ASEAN summit in New Delhi.
In Malaysia, Manmohan will be paying a return visit within nine
months of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's successful trip
to New Delhi in January. Najib had urged India to conclude the
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and this will
now materialise. This will be a landmark.
Trade with Malaysia and ASEAN could double and, in some cases,
even triple. Indeed, Najib, according to one report, has set an
ambitious target of $50 billion in Indo-Malaysian trade by 2015,
up from $7.06 billion last year.
The CECA is expected to facilitate the flow of trade and
investment between the two nations further. The focus areas of
cooperation include construction, road and transport management,
information technology, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
Malaysia has emerged as a major potential investor in India, with
planned investments in power, oil refineries, telecommunications
and electrical equipment industries, besides highway and other
infrastructure development projects. Also, there are more than 400
Indian companies, including 61 Indian joint ventures, operating in
Malaysia.
Many leading Indian companies have made substantial investments in
a number of ASEAN countries and, conversely, ASEAN countries have
also made investments in India.
Many consumer products have entered Indian homes and ASEAN firms
are vying for a slice of India's $500 billion infrastructure pie.
The Southeast Asian region has a large Indian diaspora. So, just
as Najib made it a point to visit Chennai in January, Manmohan,
too, will walk through a refurbished 'Little India' in Kuala
Lumpur.
While visits have their own place in building relations, there is
need for drawing a bigger, long-term course.
Ambassador A.N. Ram, a former Indian envoy to Thailand, suggests a
10-year action plan for consolidating India's ties with the
region. This should include, among other things, more sporting
events like the India-ASEAN car rally and promoting greater public
participation. There should be an India-ASEAN network of think
tanks to sustain a broad-based relationship.
The Indo-ASEAN FTA, Indo-Thai FTA and India-Singapore CECA are
central to building up the relationships. Together, India and
ASEAN could amount to the creation of a huge market embracing a
combined population of nearly 1.8 billion, with strong economic
and political clout.
India and the region could some day become accessible by land,
with the trans-Asian rail and road network.
Indian leaders have, generally, enjoyed a cordial relationship
with ASEAN leaders. Indeed, the late Indian prime minister P.V.
Narasimha Rao once expressed surprise that his hosts had entitled
his address as one about "new relations". India's ties with
Southeast Asia had been ancient and have never ceased, he had
said.
This closeness has been evident in Manmohan's personal chemistry
with ASEAN leaders visiting New Delhi in recent years.
Symbols and symbolisms do play their role in forging ties.
Manmohan was one among millions who left from and will return home
to New Delhi at an airport that has been refurbished to
world-class standards by an Indian-Malaysian joint venture.
(Mahendra Ved
can be contacted at mahendraved07@gmail.com)
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