Rahul9090
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2014
- Messages
- 966
- Reaction score
- -1
- Country
- Location
New Delhi:India on Monday called for stronger maritime connectivity with the high-growth, 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to boost trade.
A joint working group will soon be established to establish a sea link between India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Besides Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, Asean includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Speaking at a seminar on International Conference on Cross-border Connectivity, organized by the New Delhi-based Research and Information System for Developing Countries,Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east) in the foreign ministry, said India and Asean were in preliminary discussions to extend a highway connecting India to Thailand through Myanmar to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
Wadhwa also stressed the need for “finding financing vehicles for this ambitious agenda of geographic connectivity between Asean and India”.
Representatives from Asean countries, the US, Japan, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, different Indian ministries and the North Eastern Council were present at the day-long meet in New Delhi.
Referring to plans to link the Chennai port with Thailand’s proposed Dawei port complex—first mooted by then Thai prime ministerYingluck Shinawatraon a visit to New Delhi in January 2012—Wadhwa said India and Asean should look at greater connectivity by sea besides through and rail and roadways.
“Maritime connectivity can be strengthened further between India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and production chains established from the Mekong region to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the Mumbai-Bengaluru-Chennai Industrial Corridor, in addition to linking up with ports on the eastern seaboard of India such as Ennore, Vizag, Sagar etc,” Wadhwa said. “Back-end linkages through coastal shipping networks and riverine navigation will be important in this context so as to generate sustainable volumes of trade-related traffic.”
The proposed joint working group will “seek to establish a maritime link between India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. We have also proposed an open sky policy on cargo on aquid pro quobasis to the Asean. This would help to increase trade, especially in perishable commodities,” Wadhwa added.
With India looking to increase its share in manufacturing in gross domestic product from its current level of 16% to 25% by 2022 to create 100 million jobs, the government has been making efforts to cement linkages between Asean and Asia’s third largest economy.
India’s efforts to increase ties with Asean have also received support from the US and Japan—besides the Asean countries themselves—all of which have a wary eye on the rise of China. Many Asean countries have disputes with China over islands in the South China Sea while Japan and China both claim some barren islets in the East China Sea.
During an India-Asean commemorative summit held in New Delhi in December 2012, almost all Asean member states, barring Cambodia and Laos, called for closer India-Asean strategic ties.
The US has been keen that India raise its profile in the region. During her visit to India in 2011, then US secretary of stateHillary Clintonurged India to not only look east but also to “engage east and act east”— suggesting that India should play a greater role in the region.
India launched its ‘Look East’ policy in the early 1990s to strengthen economic and commercial links with the fast-growing south-east Asian markets, as the country opened up its economy. The Indian government has been forging stronger political and military links with individual members of the Asean besides becoming a dialogue partner of the Asean Regional Forum that discusses regional security cooperation.
India calls for stronger maritime connectivity with Asean countries - Livemint
A joint working group will soon be established to establish a sea link between India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Besides Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, Asean includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Speaking at a seminar on International Conference on Cross-border Connectivity, organized by the New Delhi-based Research and Information System for Developing Countries,Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east) in the foreign ministry, said India and Asean were in preliminary discussions to extend a highway connecting India to Thailand through Myanmar to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
Wadhwa also stressed the need for “finding financing vehicles for this ambitious agenda of geographic connectivity between Asean and India”.
Representatives from Asean countries, the US, Japan, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, different Indian ministries and the North Eastern Council were present at the day-long meet in New Delhi.
Referring to plans to link the Chennai port with Thailand’s proposed Dawei port complex—first mooted by then Thai prime ministerYingluck Shinawatraon a visit to New Delhi in January 2012—Wadhwa said India and Asean should look at greater connectivity by sea besides through and rail and roadways.
“Maritime connectivity can be strengthened further between India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and production chains established from the Mekong region to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the Mumbai-Bengaluru-Chennai Industrial Corridor, in addition to linking up with ports on the eastern seaboard of India such as Ennore, Vizag, Sagar etc,” Wadhwa said. “Back-end linkages through coastal shipping networks and riverine navigation will be important in this context so as to generate sustainable volumes of trade-related traffic.”
The proposed joint working group will “seek to establish a maritime link between India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. We have also proposed an open sky policy on cargo on aquid pro quobasis to the Asean. This would help to increase trade, especially in perishable commodities,” Wadhwa added.
With India looking to increase its share in manufacturing in gross domestic product from its current level of 16% to 25% by 2022 to create 100 million jobs, the government has been making efforts to cement linkages between Asean and Asia’s third largest economy.
India’s efforts to increase ties with Asean have also received support from the US and Japan—besides the Asean countries themselves—all of which have a wary eye on the rise of China. Many Asean countries have disputes with China over islands in the South China Sea while Japan and China both claim some barren islets in the East China Sea.
During an India-Asean commemorative summit held in New Delhi in December 2012, almost all Asean member states, barring Cambodia and Laos, called for closer India-Asean strategic ties.
The US has been keen that India raise its profile in the region. During her visit to India in 2011, then US secretary of stateHillary Clintonurged India to not only look east but also to “engage east and act east”— suggesting that India should play a greater role in the region.
India launched its ‘Look East’ policy in the early 1990s to strengthen economic and commercial links with the fast-growing south-east Asian markets, as the country opened up its economy. The Indian government has been forging stronger political and military links with individual members of the Asean besides becoming a dialogue partner of the Asean Regional Forum that discusses regional security cooperation.
India calls for stronger maritime connectivity with Asean countries - Livemint
