Asean in India

• Nov 13, 2017

Asean will have a major presence in India in December and January with government leaders, ministers, top bureaucrats, business executives, investors, artists and others attending a variety of events in Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and Goa.

Seven events are scheduled before the heads of governments congregate in Delhi on Jan 26, India’s 69th Republic Day, for a special summit that marks the completion of 25 years of official Asean-India engagement.

The calendar includes an Asean-India connectivity summit, a business summit, a textile meeting, a business fair, a CEO forum, a conference on people-to-people links and the Asean Natural & Organic show. Six of the events are being organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce of India) in association with the central government. The people-to-people event, meanwhile, will feature a film festival in Goa and cultural programmes for artists in Guwahati, the capital of Assam state.

Indian government officials say senior ministers will be active participants in the events. The connectivity summit on Dec 11 and 12, for example, is expected to feature six members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet: Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Apart from physical connectivity, summit participants will discuss telecommunication and information technology connectivity. Besides Asean members and India, the summit will feature a delegation from Japan.

The Asean-India business summit will feature sessions on small and medium enterprises and investment. The film festival and cultural programmes and the natural and organic show will take place in the second week of December while the textile meeting, CEO forum and business fair will happen in the middle of January. In the run-up to the commemorative summit, plans call for a sailing expedition, a regional Indian diaspora meeting and other public competitions.

India has invited the heads of all governments in Asean to be chief guests for its 69th Republic Day. It is first time that the country will be hosting multiple leaders during the annual military parade. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Singapore Premier Lee Hsien Loong have so far accepted invitations while Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is also expected to attend. Other are expected to respond in the next few weeks.

Joefe B Santarita, dean of South Asian Studies in the Asian Centre at the University of the Philippines, hopes the various summits — including the India-Asean summit today in Manila — will “produce favourable results such as comprehensive regional interaction and engagement with the Indo-Pacific region”.

Mr Modi’s visit to the Philippines this week is the first by an Indian prime minister since Indira Gandhi in 1981.

Mr Santarita told Asia Focus that one aim of the encounters between Indian and Asean political leaders is to “come up with strategic mechanisms in promoting peace and stability amid tension in Northeast Asia”.

“India along with Asean countries will successfully serve as a middle power and provide acceptable interventions in world affairs,” he said.

Asean is India’s fourth largest trading partner and India in turn is Asean’s seventh largest trading partner.

India considers Asean its extended neighbourhood with which it shares many cultural links, based on Buddhist links as well as the enduring appeal of the Ramayana epic. It believes the 3 Cs — commerce, connectivity and culture — are at the core of its Act East policy. New Delhi has signed free trade agreements with Asean members on goods, services and investment. Trade between the two was valued at US$71.7 billion in the last fiscal year.

Unlike China which has been using its economic muscle to expand its influence in Southeast Asia, India has resorted more to building up soft power through cultural links. Examples include an India-Asean youth summit in Bhopal, an artists’ camp in Udaipur and an Indo-Asean music festival in New Delhi.

The Ramayana and Buddhism are common to India as well as Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam. In Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia, India has helped with the restoration of heritage sites.

As well, work is continuing on a trilateral highway through northeastern India to connect first with Myanmar and Thailand and later with other countries of the region. A multi-modal transit transport project in Myanmar is also near completion. Essentially, India is trying to leverage culture and connectivity to increase commerce with Southeast Asia.

A Southeast Asia expert with a prominent Indian business emphasised the “mutually reinforcing” character of the 3 Cs, but said connectivity was the key. “Soft power will only raise the level of familiarity and interest. With music, art and cuisine, you can gain confidence. But without connectivity, commerce may come to a standstill,” he told Asia Focus on condition of anonymity.

In the case of Singapore, New Delhi is exploring “smart cities” and “skill India” projects to build up a partnership. With Vietnam, it plans to set up joint ventures for defence production. Thailand, on the other hand, is increasing its footprint in the hospitality sector in India.

Rahul Mishra, an expert on Southeast Asia, says India, long considered a benign power, is trying to become a power of more consequence in the region.

“There are no contentious issues between India and Asean,” he told Asia Focus. “New Delhi is trying to find ways to elevate the relationship to a new level. The idea is to make relations multi-dimensional and multi-faceted.”

Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1359579/asean-in-india