10-09-2003, 07:42 PM
I told members of Observers Research Foundation that they should cheer the following announcement of our PM because this fully echoes what I presented in a meeting of ORF a few weeks ago. Let me know if India Forum wishes to pursue the idea further and bring it to fruition in a year's time. We will start with Indian Ocean Academy. I hope members have read the magnum opus of G. Coedes: Indianized States of South-east Asia
Dr. S. Kalyanaraman
India-ASEAN seal trade ties with 3 deals
FOR ASIAN CENTURY: Sign Framework Agreement for free trade area; open sky for ASEAN flights, rail links
MANINI CHATTERJEE
BALI, OCTOBER 8 : Seeking to establish Indiaâs leadership role in the âAsian centuryâ, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday floated the idea of setting up an Asian Economic Community that would create âa new engine of growthâ and enable the continent to surge ahead, unfettered by the hurdles imposed by western economic blocs.
Clearly pleased at the fast pace at which India and ASEAN had worked out the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation that was signed on Wednesday, Vajpayee stressed the need to now prepare an India-ASEAN Vision 2000. He hoped it would be adopted at the next summit scheduled to be held in Laos next year.
Addressing the second India-ASEAN summit, Vajpayee also offered a range of proposals to enhance the emerging partnership between India and the 10-nation south-east Asian grouping. These include an âopen skies offerâ wherein India will allow daily flights to airlines belonging to the ASEAN to the four metros, and an âunlimited numberâ of flights to 18 tourist destinations in the country. He also proposed more rail links connecting the region, an India-ASEAN motor car rally, and greater cooperation in a range of fields including tourism, agriculture, and health.
The Framework Agreement laid out the nitty-gritty on how to achieve genuine cooperation within a realistic time frame. As part of the agreement, India agreed to extend special and differential trade treatment to ASEAN countries, based on their levels of development to improve their market access to India. In other words, the less developed ASEAN countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam will be given preferential treatment. While the agreement envisages elimination of tariffs with the more developed ASEAN countries by 2011, the deadline has been extended to 2016 for others. The 2016 deadline has also been extended to Philippines taking into account Manilaâs concerns that Indiaâs much stronger economy could flood their market with cheap goods.
While the Prime Minister spoke in general terms of greater economic cooperation, officials on both sides have worked out the detailed lists of goods and services that will be covered under the agreement whose long-term objective is the establishment of an ASEAN-India Regional Trade and Investment Area (RTIA). Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal asserted that negotiations on the Framework Agreement were completed in record time of just 10 months, reflecting the will and determination on both sides to expand economic cooperation. The other main area of cooperation between ASEAN and India is on the anti-terrorism.
[url="http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=33053"]http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.ph...ontent_id=33053[/url]
Dr. S. Kalyanaraman
India-ASEAN seal trade ties with 3 deals
FOR ASIAN CENTURY: Sign Framework Agreement for free trade area; open sky for ASEAN flights, rail links
MANINI CHATTERJEE
BALI, OCTOBER 8 : Seeking to establish Indiaâs leadership role in the âAsian centuryâ, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday floated the idea of setting up an Asian Economic Community that would create âa new engine of growthâ and enable the continent to surge ahead, unfettered by the hurdles imposed by western economic blocs.
Clearly pleased at the fast pace at which India and ASEAN had worked out the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation that was signed on Wednesday, Vajpayee stressed the need to now prepare an India-ASEAN Vision 2000. He hoped it would be adopted at the next summit scheduled to be held in Laos next year.
Addressing the second India-ASEAN summit, Vajpayee also offered a range of proposals to enhance the emerging partnership between India and the 10-nation south-east Asian grouping. These include an âopen skies offerâ wherein India will allow daily flights to airlines belonging to the ASEAN to the four metros, and an âunlimited numberâ of flights to 18 tourist destinations in the country. He also proposed more rail links connecting the region, an India-ASEAN motor car rally, and greater cooperation in a range of fields including tourism, agriculture, and health.
The Framework Agreement laid out the nitty-gritty on how to achieve genuine cooperation within a realistic time frame. As part of the agreement, India agreed to extend special and differential trade treatment to ASEAN countries, based on their levels of development to improve their market access to India. In other words, the less developed ASEAN countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam will be given preferential treatment. While the agreement envisages elimination of tariffs with the more developed ASEAN countries by 2011, the deadline has been extended to 2016 for others. The 2016 deadline has also been extended to Philippines taking into account Manilaâs concerns that Indiaâs much stronger economy could flood their market with cheap goods.
While the Prime Minister spoke in general terms of greater economic cooperation, officials on both sides have worked out the detailed lists of goods and services that will be covered under the agreement whose long-term objective is the establishment of an ASEAN-India Regional Trade and Investment Area (RTIA). Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal asserted that negotiations on the Framework Agreement were completed in record time of just 10 months, reflecting the will and determination on both sides to expand economic cooperation. The other main area of cooperation between ASEAN and India is on the anti-terrorism.
[url="http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=33053"]http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.ph...ontent_id=33053[/url]