Look East Policy

The Minister of Mines and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Shri B.K. Handique has said that the rationale of India’s Look East Policy is, inter-alia, to expand India’s economic space which may be of mutual benefit to India and its neighboring South East and East Asian countries.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha yesterday he said, the Look East Policy is pursued in a multi-faceted manner in diverse areas such as improved connectivity, promotion of trade and investment and cultural exchanges. Some of the important developments of the Look East Policy, interalia, relate to initiating/resuming dialogue/trade with China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and other countries of ASEAN.

Shri Handique said, the Look East Policy has also been pursued through constructive engagement with various regional groupings/organizations such as ASEAN, East Asia Summit, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC). Various initiatives taken by the Government of India , in this regard are :-

India-ASEAN

India has undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen economic cooperation with ASEAN countries in areas of common interest. India signed a ‘Trade in Goods’ agreement with ASEAN in 2009, which became operational from 1 January, 2010. Agreements on Trade in Services and Investment as part of FTA are the focal areas. India is also negotiating an Free Trade Agreement (FTA ) with Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).The agreement on trade in goods has come into force from 1st January 2010, following ratification by Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. India’s bilateral trade with ASEAN countries has grown from US$ 2.4 billion in 1990 to US$ 44.66 billion in 2008-09. So far, 7 Summit level meetings with ASEAN have been held. At the 7th ASEAN-India Summit, held in Thailand in October, 2009, among several initiatives to strengthen economic cooperation with ASEAN countries, the trade target of US$ 70 billion within next two years (by 2012) was also announced. To support all the initiatives, India announced allocation up to US$ 50 million for the period of the ASEAN work plan for 2009-15 under the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund and the ASEAN Development Fund.

East Asia Summit (EAS)

The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by then Malaysian Prime Minister. It provides India the forum to carve out for itself a larger East Asian strategic presence and taking forward our vision for the future. Thrust areas of EAS include (i) Energy, Environment, Climate Change & Sustainable Development, (ii) Education, (iii) Finance, (iv) Natural Disaster Mitigation and (v) Avian Influenza. Four summits of EAS have been held so far.

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

Bangladesh, India Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation (BISTEC) Grouping formed in 1997 was another vehicle to pursue our “Look East Policy”. BIMSTEC has seven members – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. BIMSTEC provides a link between South Asia and South East Asia by way of economic cooperation and linkages in identified areas of cooperation. Starting with 6 sectors, the BIMSTEC agenda of cooperation has expanded to 14 sectors : i) trade and investment (ii) Technology (iii) Energy (iv) Transportation & Communication (v) Tourism (vi) Fisheries (vii) Agriculture (viii) Cultural Cooperation (ix) Environment and Disaster Management (x) Public Health (xi) People-to-people contact (xii) Poverty Alleviation (xiii) Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime and (xiv) Climate Change.

Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC)

The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) brings together India and five ASEAN countries and was launched in 2000. MGC initiative is a vehicle for ‘soft diplomacy’ in countries that have had considerable cultural influence from India. Both the Ganga and the Mekong are ancient rivers and the MGC initiative is indicative of the cultural and commercial linkages between the member countries of the MGC down the centuries. MGC has identified tourism, culture, education and transport & communication as priority areas of cooperation. Five meetings of the MGC have been held so far.

Thus, the Government of India through initiatives under the Look East Policy is striving to attract optimum investments from the neighbouring countries to the North Eastern Region, which will be visible in the long run.

The Minister said, to actualize the dreams enunciated in the NER Vision 2020, the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region has constituted 17 Thematic Working Groups which are headed by officials of the line Ministries and also includes representatives of State Governments of the North–Eastern States, various other organizations and eminent experts. These Thematic Working Groups have been constituted on various sectors which include Look East Policy, Industry, Connectivity (major roads), Connectivity (inland waterways), Connectivity (air), Connectivity (railways), Connectivity (rural roads), Financial Services, Panchayati Raj & Local Self Government, Poverty Eradication, Human Resource Development, Tourism, IT enabled services and Cyber Connectivity, Power, Health, Rural Sector, Sports, Art & Culture. These Thematic Working Groups have prepared sectoral Plans of Action based on the objectives in the Vision Document. These plans of action were presented before public representatives and media of the North East in Shillong in 2008. After the Action Plans are finalized by the Thematic Groups, these will be implemented by different Ministries in the North Eastern region from the gross budgetary allocation made to them by the Planning Commission.


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