Opinion UPAs Asia Strategy: One Step Forward,Two Steps Back?
Indias Asian well-wishers hope that in acting quickly on the Korean deal,the UPA government is signalling a strong commitment to East Asian regionalism.
The fact that India has signed a trade liberalization pact with South Korea this week might be more important than the specific contents of the agreement. Indias Asian well-wishers hope that in acting quickly on the Korean deal,the UPA government is signalling a strong commitment to East Asian regionalism.
Amidst the prolonged and tortuous negotiations on the free trade agreement with the ASEAN,there has been a growing perception in East and Southeast Asia that India is not serious about building a sustainable economic partnership with the region.
While our Foreign Office drafts fine speeches on Indias ancient civilizational links with Asia,and our chattering classes talk incessantly about Delhis central role in modern Asia,much of the region thinks India has only words to offer. Even those who backed Indias entry into Pacific Asian forums earlier in this decade now feel despondent.
For example,during 2004-05,Japan,Singapore Indonesia insisted on the Indian membership of the East Asia Summit (EAS) and overcame Beijings stiff opposition to Delhis membership of the Asian project of regional integration.
In retrospect Chinas anxieties about Indias rising profile in East Asia seem excessive. There was no reason for Beijing to stop India if Delhi was determined to trip itself up in Asia.
Although Delhi has joined the East Asian process,domestic political considerations have prevented it from seizing the opportunities that have come its way. India is now is the only major regional power that has not signed a free trade agreement with the ASEAN.
Indian political classes are vehement in their declamations on Asian unity and solidarity; those sentiments clearly dont apply to market opening and commercial cooperation with fellow Asian nations.
Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says his government will sign the ASEAN FTA this month,Asia keeps its fingers crossed. Their scepticism is rooted in the recent memory of India walking back,so very often,from its commitments on regional economic cooperation.
All Asian capitals understand that domestic politics is an important factor in free trade negotiations. But they have been puzzled by the UPA governments easy surrender of national interest to the smallest of the coalition partners and the doubting Thomases in the Congress party.
Asia is certainly surprised at the rapid pace (speed as you know is a relative measure) at which Indias trade talks with Korea have been brought to a closure. They compare it with the Indian twists and turns on the ASEAN FTA and the stalled trade negotiations with China and Japan.
Optimists would want to believe that Indias trade pact with Korea marks a breakthrough in Indias engagement with Asia. Pessimists,however,fear that the UPA government which has taken one step forward in Korea will now take two back.
(C. Raja Mohan is a Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,Nanyang Technological University,Singapore.)
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