Eastward ho!

India's look east policy can promote greater peace, stability and prosperity in the region

Satyajit Mohanty Delhi

India scored major diplomatic victories in the December 2005 India-ASEAN and East Asian summit meetings when India's look east policy road map and vision for a pan-Asian Free Trade Area was heard and appreciated by leaders and scholars of the continent. However, the euphoria surrounding India's diplomatic gains should from now on be concretised with certain specific initiatives so that India's engagement with East Asia can move to higher levels. The look east policy, launched in 1991, has entered the second decade and the aim should be to pinpoint specific gains by, say, 2010.

India's engagement with East Asian countries needs to take place at four different levels and on four major fronts. India needs to deal with China at one level, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) at another, South Korea and Japan at the third level and the original ASEAN-5 countries—Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Singapore—at the final level. Such engagement has to take place at four different fronts—political, economic, strategic and cultural. Such levels of engagement with specific emphasis on certain sectors when interacting with a certain country or a group of countries would fan out India's East Asian policy in four intercepting circles covering the entire geographical sweep of the region.

At the most proximate level India needs to continue its policy of constructively engaging China politically and economically at both the bilateral and the multilateral fora without sending signals of a balance of power game being played in East Asia.

Both countries have decided to resolve all outstanding boundary disputes and boost bilateral trade to US$20 billion by 2008— a target not unrealistic given the high growth of both these economies. While some Asian countries want to rope in India to act as a counter to the growing Chinese influence, Manmohan Singh has tried to dispel notions of India and China as strategic competitors. Similar, positive vibes from Beijing that it is not trying to establish its hegemony over East Asia augur well for the regionalism process in Asia. The European experience shows that optimum power stratification between France and Germany coupled with economic imperatives to cooperate fostered European regional integration. A pan-Asian FTA, as envisioned by Manmohan Singh, would have enough ‘trade creation effects’ to accommodate the growing trade and economic interests of both India and China. The time is ripe to focus on details in the bilateral relationships by pitching joint bids for energy security and having a common stand on specific WTO issues like market access. A good beginning on the energy front has been made this year with the visit of Mani Shanker Aiyer to China. India and China agreed to share information when bidding for oil and gas contracts in other countries and such cooperative moves would enhance energy security of two of the world's largest energy consumers without pushing up prices due to competitive bidding. China and India should lay down a road map for implementing a comprehensive goods and services agreement by say 2009, which could include greater border trade through the land route. Such a move would also help in linking the interior areas of China and India's northeastern region, thereby putting these relatively backward regions on a
growth trajectory.