Saturday, February 10, 2007
India calls for pan-Asian FTA
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: India on Friday called for a pan-Asian free trade agreement to build an economic community akin to the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA).
Speaking at the Asian Security Conference here, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said there was greater recognition of India 's stabilizing and firewall role against destabilizing and influences. He said India would continue to seek greater political and economic convergence, closer people-to-people links through cultural cooperation and educational exchanges and meaningful security cooperation with countries of the region.
Building upon the success of the ASEAN and East Asia summits last month, India Friday underlined a ââ¬Åcooperative approachââ¬Â to security in the region and hoped that it would conclude a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation grouping soon.
The two-day Asian Security Conference organized by India 's premier security think-tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) is deliberating on security dynamism in Southeast Asia and emerging threats and responses. Over 30 experts from 17 countries are participating in the conference. Alluding to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's vision of a pan-Asian FTA, Mukherjee said that such an arrangement could prove a ââ¬Åstarting point for a virtual Asian Economic Communityââ¬Â that would emerge through FTAs among countries of the region.
ââ¬ÂOur focus, including in our bilateral dialogues and cooperative activities with neighbouring states in Southeast Asia, has been on issues such as border security, maritime security, counter-terrorism and energy security,ââ¬Â Mukherjee said. ââ¬ÅOur view has been that in Asia a pluralistic security order based on cooperative approach to security is the answer,ââ¬Â he stressed.
He said India's look-east policy conceived and pursued since the early 1990s had paid well. "It has facilitated enhanced links with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island States," he stated. Over the last 10 years, India's trade with 10 Southeast Asian countries has grown from a mere $5836 million to $21,294 million in 2005-06.
Inaugurating the conference, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat sought a cut in vast "unproductive expenditure" like that on defence to attend to the alleviation of widespread poverty and for achieving the millennium development goals. He said the cost of UN peace-keeping operations alone had cost the world $21.5 billion between 1991 and 2002. He said the world spent over 1,000 billion dollars annually on defence, which could be diverted to developmental projects.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\02\10\story_10-2-2007_pg5_8
India calls for pan-Asian FTA
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: India on Friday called for a pan-Asian free trade agreement to build an economic community akin to the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA).
Speaking at the Asian Security Conference here, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said there was greater recognition of India 's stabilizing and firewall role against destabilizing and influences. He said India would continue to seek greater political and economic convergence, closer people-to-people links through cultural cooperation and educational exchanges and meaningful security cooperation with countries of the region.
Building upon the success of the ASEAN and East Asia summits last month, India Friday underlined a ââ¬Åcooperative approachââ¬Â to security in the region and hoped that it would conclude a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation grouping soon.
The two-day Asian Security Conference organized by India 's premier security think-tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) is deliberating on security dynamism in Southeast Asia and emerging threats and responses. Over 30 experts from 17 countries are participating in the conference. Alluding to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's vision of a pan-Asian FTA, Mukherjee said that such an arrangement could prove a ââ¬Åstarting point for a virtual Asian Economic Communityââ¬Â that would emerge through FTAs among countries of the region.
ââ¬ÂOur focus, including in our bilateral dialogues and cooperative activities with neighbouring states in Southeast Asia, has been on issues such as border security, maritime security, counter-terrorism and energy security,ââ¬Â Mukherjee said. ââ¬ÅOur view has been that in Asia a pluralistic security order based on cooperative approach to security is the answer,ââ¬Â he stressed.
He said India's look-east policy conceived and pursued since the early 1990s had paid well. "It has facilitated enhanced links with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island States," he stated. Over the last 10 years, India's trade with 10 Southeast Asian countries has grown from a mere $5836 million to $21,294 million in 2005-06.
Inaugurating the conference, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat sought a cut in vast "unproductive expenditure" like that on defence to attend to the alleviation of widespread poverty and for achieving the millennium development goals. He said the cost of UN peace-keeping operations alone had cost the world $21.5 billion between 1991 and 2002. He said the world spent over 1,000 billion dollars annually on defence, which could be diverted to developmental projects.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\02\10\story_10-2-2007_pg5_8
