ASEAN-INDIA DIALOGUE RELATIONS
Introduction
1. ASEAN-India dialogue relations have grown rapidly from a sectoral dialogue partnership in 1992 to a full dialogue partnership in 1995 and subsequently to a Summit level interaction, with the First ASEAN-India Summit being held in 2002, all of which took place in a decade. This reflects the confidence both ASEAN and India have in the dialogue partnership which is reflected by the expanding and intensifying dialogue and cooperation in many sectors.
2. ASEAN-India cooperation covers the economic, political and security, and development cooperation dimensions with a number of mechanisms established to promote dialogue and cooperation in these areas. In recent years, sectoral cooperation has been gaining strength with the establishment of working group level meetings in science and technology, transport and infrastructure, and small and medium scale enterprises.
Political and Security
3. India has been an active member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) since July 1996. It views the ARF as valuable in promoting stable relationships between the major powers, and as a useful complement to the bilateral alliances and dialogues which are at the heart of the region's security architecture. ASEAN and India committed themselves to jointly contribute to the promotion of peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, and respond positively to the challenges of a dynamic regional and international environment.
4. ASEAN and India are now intensifying their political and security dialogue to add a new dimension to a mutually beneficial economic and commercial relationship. Reflective of India's interest in intensifying its engagement with ASEAN, both sides now are in the process of jointly developing an India-ASEAN Vision 2020, as a roadmap to mutually desired objectives.
5. In embarking on concrete initiatives to step up cooperation mechanisms between ASEAN and India in the international fight against terrorism, India has proposed the signing of an ASEAN-India Joint Declaration for Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism. India presented a draft text for the consideration of ASEAN during the Fifth Meeting of the ASEAN-India JCC on 22-23 April 2003 in New Delhi. The Meeting agreed that the draft would considered by the ASEAN Senior Officials on Transnational Crime and the ASEAN-India SOM. The finalised text would be presented to the leaders at the Second ASEAN-India Summit in Bali.
6. On TAC, India’s accession to the TAC will further add significance to the treaty as a key document in ensuring peace and security, stability and development in Southeast Asia.
Trade and Investment Relations
7. Volume of trade and investment flows between ASEAN and India remained relatively low compared with other dialogue partners of ASEAN. Between 1993 and 2001, two-way trade between ASEAN and India has more than doubled from USD2.9 billion to USD9.9 billion, which is equivalent to a compounded annual growth rate of 16.5 per cent. Although trends in economic interaction are positive, the volume of trade and investment remains low. India accounts for less than 2.0 per cent of ASEAN’s total trade and 0.2 per cent of FDI in the region.
8. Acknowledging this trend and recognising the economic potentials of closer linkages, both sides started economic consultations at the ministerial and senior official levels. As a result of these consultations and the recommendations of the Joint Study on AFTA-India Linkages for the Enhancement of Trade and Investment, both sides are now working on an ASEAN-India Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation. The Framework Agreement is being drafted by the ASEAN-India Economic Linkages Task Force (AIELTF). The volume of trade and the trend of investment are expected to improve when initiatives under the Framework Agreement are eventually implemented.
Development Cooperation
9. Since the establishment of the ASEAN-India dialogue relations, development cooperation activities/areas have grown in strength and number. In terms of sectors, ASEAN-India cooperation covers the following: trade and investment, science and technology, human resources development, tourism, transport and infrastructure, health, small and medium scale enterprise and people-to-people contact. Science and technology has been one of the most prolific areas with significant outputs. However, there have been delays in implementing cooperation activities and both sides are now actively working through the ASEAN-India Working Group to take stock and improve project formulation, coordination and implementation.
10. In this regard, it is important to note that India had contributed USD2.5 million in October 2002 to the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund to further enhance cooperation. Thus far, limited activities have been identified to utilise the funds and India has expressed its strong desire to see the effective utilisation of the Fund by undertaking new cooperation activities. The balance of ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund as of 31 March 2003 was USD2,800,102.49.
11. During the 5th ASEAN-India JCC, India proposed a new sector of co-operation – agriculture- and would be submitting a concept paper to ASEAN on the modalities and areas to forge co-operation in the sector.
Future Direction
12. It is a fundamental fact of geography that India is in the immediate neighbourhood of ASEAN. Both share land and maritime borders with Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand. The vital commercial sea lanes between West Asia and South East Asia straddle the Indian mainland and its island territories.
13. India's relations with ASEAN have grown considerably over the last decade, but a vast potential still remains untapped. Apart from economic cooperation, there is much more that the two sides can work for together.
14. With the convening of the First ASEAN-India Summit, the dialogue relations have been elevated to the highest level. While it demonstrated the commitment of ASEAN and India to work closely in the areas of mutual interest, both sides must now increase the level of cooperation. In order to facilitate a more balance and comprehensive cooperation, ASEAN and India could develop a Work Programme to prioritise activities with specific timelines for implementation.
15. To give greater visibility to cooperation, both sides should embark on a programme approach with clear strategic thrusts. Such programmes would comprise a number of projects to meet the objectives of the relations and could be multi-year in nature thereby having high impact on ASEAN-India development cooperation. Such programmes will tap on the strengths of the relations and the synergies within the programmes. The programmes could focus on S&T (including IT), HRD and capacity building and people-to-people contacts.
16. Two way trade and investment between ASEAN and India remain low, although both sides are of the view that opportunities for collaboration are yet to be fully tapped. The ASEAN-India Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, once agreed and implemented, could facilitate greater flow of trade and investment. In addition, ASEAN and India should encourage their respective private sectors to tap on the huge market potentials that both sides have to offer. The current international situation also presents a case for ASEAN and India to collaborate more closely.
17. India has expressed keen interest in forging closer cooperation with ASEAN in combating international terrorism. In this regard, there are potentials for both sides to cooperate. At the initial stages, both sides could focus on exchange of information and best practices as well as training. Seminars and workshops on counter-terrorism and related areas could be initiated to better appreciate the situation on the ground and how both sides are tackling the problem as well to identify possible areas for joint cooperation and action.
18. ASEAN also welcomes India’s interest to develop a network of relations with ASEAN through other means of cooperation frameworks as it would complement the larger goal of enhancing ASEAN-India ties. In this regard, ASEAN could encourage India’s active participation in the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation and the five-member sub-regional grouping of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand-Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC).
