Celebrating the Third Decade and Beyond: New Challenges to ASEAN-India Economic Partnership

Prabir De and Suthiphand Chirathivat

The ASEAN-India economic integration has made substantial progress in recent years. India’s engagements with Southeast and East Asia have received new momentum under the Act East Policy (AEP). In 2017, ASEAN and India will be celebrating 25 years of their dialogue relations. The relationship is set to deepen in coming days as ASEAN and India step up their collaboration across a range of economic and strategic issues, including trade and connectivity, culture, people-to-people links, trans-national terrorism, and maritime security. However, both of them have been facing several challenges, which call for concerted efforts by ASEAN and India. With ASEAN and India working towards establishing a Comprehensive Free Trade Area through Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, their cooperation will be key to promoting economic stability, competitiveness, growth and integration in the region.

This book is a timely initiative to review the past and suggest the ways to further strengthen the economic partnership. It primarily deals with the economic integration issues between ASEAN and India, and assesses policy priorities, effectiveness, implementation imperatives and challenges. Each chapter in this book tries to capture essential features of the crosscutting issues and attempts to draw some policy implications. It will be a valuable reference for policymakers, academics and practitioners.

Prabir De and Suthiphand Chirathivat Editors

Prabir De, Professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Coordinator, ASEAN-India Centre (AIC), New Delhi

Suthiphand Chirathivat, Chairman, Chula Global Network and Executive Director, ASEAN Studies Center (ASC), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok

Contents

Foreword
Ambassador Shyam Saran

Preface
Prabir De and Suthiphand Chirathivat

List of Tables, Figures, Maps, Boxes
Abbreviations
Contributors
ONE Introduction
Prabir De and Suthiphand Chirathivat

TWO ASEAN- India Political Cooperation: How to Reinforce a Much Needed Pillar?
Sophie Boisseau du Rocher

THREE Act East Policy and India’s Cultural Diplomacy with ASEAN
Ishani Naskar

FOUR Reassessing the Impact of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement
Tham Siew Yean and Andrew Kam Jia Yi

FIVE Will India Gain from India-ASEAN FTA? Analysis of Simulated Scenarios based on Phased Implementation
Chandrima Sikdar and Biswajit Nag

SIX ASEAN Attempts at the Initiatives to Broaden Free Trade Agreements in East Asia
Suthiphand Chirathivat

SEVEN India-Thailand Partnership: Way Towards Greater Cooperation
Sineenat Sermcheep, Piti Srisangnam, and Nuanpan Thamanovanish

EIGHT India-ASEAN Production Networks: What is There for Indian SMEs?
Biswajit Nag

NINE Trade in Services in Asia-Pacific: Assessing Barriers and Implications for Services Trade Facilitation in India
Durairaj Kumarasamy and Imdadul Islam Halder

TEN ASEAN-India Connectivity: Progress So Far
Suthiphand Chirathivat and Anupama D. Masali

ELEVEN Look East to Act East: Connectivity Challenges to India’s Northeast
Prabir De and P K H Singh

TWELVE Education and Knowledge Institutional Cooperation with Special Reference to Science,
Society and Innovation for Sustainability
Lawrence Surendra