Asia's Arc of Advantage - icrier

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II INDIA’S ROLE IN SHAPING ASIAN ARCHITECTURE H.K. Singh I. Look East Policy and India’s “return” to Asia India’s geographical location at the crossroads of Asia has defined its external interactions through the ages. Both the continental and maritime realms of Asia have been conduits for the peaceful spread of Indian civilisation, culture, religions and commerce for over two thousand years. This historic connectivity suffered during the period of European colonisation, creating major disruptions in India’s Asian identity. However, as India strode towards freedom, Asia’s importance revived. Convening the first Asian Relations Conference in March 1947, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru declared: “It is fitting that India should play her part in this new phase of Asian development… geographically she is so situated as to be the meeting point...” 1 For a variety of reasons, the progress of independent India’s early Asian initiatives could not be sustained beyond the 1950s. India drifted away from Indonesia after 1955, from Japan after 1960 and the ASEAN states after 1967. India’s disastrous China war in 1962 left a deep scar, which accentuated its withdrawal from Asia. This trend was not limited to India’s geo-political outreach. With its closed economic model, India was also markedly absent from the boom era of the Asian Tigers in the 1980s and 1990s. Thus, after making a promising commitment in 1947 to lead Asia’s resurgence, India remained a marginal player in Asia for around three decades (1962-1992). 1 Jawaharlal Nehru, “Speech Delivered at 1st Asian Relations Conference” (speech, New Delhi, March 24, 1947), Indian Council of World Affairs, available at http://icwadelhi.info/asianrelationsconference/images/ stories/jawaharlalnehru.pdf.
India’s economic reforms of 1991 and the advent of the Look East Policy (LEP) in 1992 finally reversed this trend. In crafting the LEP in the early 1990s, India’s leaders were deeply conscious of the economic opportunity and the successful growth model, which had spread from Japan all the way to Indonesia and other ASEAN states. With the steady growth of its LEP and relations with ASEAN, India reclaimed its historic economic and strategic space in 2005 when it became a founder member of the East Asia Summit. This was the most significant achievement of the LEP in the politico-strategic context, the result of concerted and robust diplomacy combined with strong support from a handful of friendly countries, despite spirited opposition from adversaries propagating the ASEAN-plus-three template as the “core” of the region. India’s emergence on the East Asian scene coincided with the forging of a new strategic and global partnership with Japan in 2006, a country that epitomised Asia’s economic and technological advancement and shared India’s commitment to freedom, democracy and the rule of law. It was thus only apt that in addressing the Indian Parliament on August 22, 2007, the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, welcomed India to a “broader Asia” with the following words: “We are now at a point at which the Confluence of the Two Seas is coming into being...The Pacific and the Indian Oceans are bringing about a dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and of prosperity. A ‘broader Asia’ that (breaks down) geographical boundaries is beginning to take on a distinct form.” 2 Prime Minister Abe’s remarks foresaw the emergence of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ region as the new centre of gravity in global geo-politics. Map 1: The Indo-Pacific Region Apart from these favourable trends within Asia, the first decade of the 21 st century also saw a veritable transformation of relations between India and the United States. Driven by India’s economic dynamism and geo-strategic promise, the US placed what has been termed a 2 Shinzo Abe, “Confluence of the Two Seas” (speech, Indian Parliament, August 22, 2007), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, available at http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/pmv0708/speech-2.html. India’s Role in Shaping Asian Architecture | 17
Page 1: A REPORT OF THE ICRIER WADHWANI CHA
Page 4 and 5: ICRIER Wadhwani Programme of Resear
Page 6 and 7: VI.i “Connecting East : The Myanm
Page 8 and 9: The ICRIER Wadhwani Chair is please
Page 10 and 11: vi | Asia’s Arc of Advantage
Page 12 and 13: space, even though some would argue
Page 14 and 15: Recommendations The “Emerging Asi
Page 16 and 17: • Based on their regional experie
Page 18 and 19: List of Maps Map 1: The Indo-Pacifi
Page 20 and 21: ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting ASSM ASEAN
Page 22 and 23: TPP TTR UNCLOS UNCTAD US USPACOM US
Page 24 and 25: Indian side and 10 on the ASEAN sid
Page 26 and 27: I.ii Advancing India-US-ASEAN Co-op
Page 28 and 29: Maritime Security and HADR Given th
Page 30 and 31: I.iii India’s ‘Look East’ and
Page 32 and 33: Concrete Next Steps Under instructi
Page 34 and 35: easons. The lack of historical bagg
Page 36 and 37: 17. Prof. G.V.C. Naidu, Professor a
Page 40 and 41: “strategic bet” 3 on the develo
Page 42 and 43: tendency to cite ‘strategic auton
Page 44 and 45: However, these declarations of inte
Page 46 and 47: Chart 1: Average Increase in Percen
Page 48 and 49: Table 1: GDP Projections of Seven L
Page 50 and 51: V. Security Issues Since 2010, Chin
Page 52 and 53: power. It also holds that within As
Page 54 and 55: Secretary Kerry’s visit to China
Page 56 and 57: institution for political and strat
Page 58 and 59: Reconnecting to Southeast Asia The
Page 60 and 61: global Cold War issues. When the AS
Page 62 and 63: co-operation. Although the pace of
Page 64 and 65: While the theoretical debate on the
Page 66 and 67: Naval ships from India, Australia,
Page 68 and 69: of communication for unfettered mov
Page 70 and 71: South China Sea are the subject of
Page 72 and 73: Chinese Aircraft Carrier Liaoning S
Page 74 and 75: China Sea issue, only to be publicl
Page 76 and 77: Philippine Navy flag officer-in-com
Page 78 and 79: Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and
Page 80 and 81: Whatever the domestic motivations o
Page 82 and 83: IV. i EAST ASIA SUMMIT MEMBER STATE
Page 84 and 85: Crucially, the numbers incorporated
Page 86 and 87: Chart 6: East Asian Summit Member S
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3500 Chart 10: Air Force Aircraft (
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Map 6: APEC Member Economies Table
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partner, Japan and Korea responded
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Korea were invited to be part of th
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decisions that would have regional
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a community.” 37 Prime Minister K
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The Second East Asia Summit in Cebu
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political construct. 58 Such robust
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decade will be to lock in a substan
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them to the status of objects, rath
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VI INDIA-ASEAN CONNECTIVITY: A STRA
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China is by far the largest investo
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Map 9: Kaladan Multi-Modal Project
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meeting in September 2012 decided t
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and ASEAN by combining physical con
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mill. 38 It should be noted that in
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South Korean companies are now seek
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US officials have forcefully advoca
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• Support for democratic institut
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Executive Summary and Key Recommend
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with the downsides of greater conne
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• Research collaboration among th
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B. Executive Summary of “ASEAN-In
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under construction and the projects
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Figure 4: Selected Infrastructure P
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3-3. A Regional Framework A regiona
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construction work has just started
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Figure 7: Economic Corridors, 47 De
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WELCOMING India’s consistent supp
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efforts to strengthen cooperation i
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D. Recommendations by ASEAN-US Emin
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and delivered by September 30, 2013
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Socio-Cultural The Leaders should r
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About the Authors and Contributors
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Ted Osius Ted Osius is currently a
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