Feb 26, 2009
ARJUN GOSWAMI
When my family and I moved to Cambodia over two years ago I was aware of the historical and cultural traditions that bound India and Cambodia together. Viewing the reliefs of the Mahabharata at the famous temples of Angkor Wat, seeing the Hindu gods carved into the river bed at the site of the thousand lingas and on various pre Angkorian temples over 11 centuries ago, showed me how deep that connection was. Yet, the question in my mind was whether these links had translated into vibrant trade and investment connections. Had modern India built on the links that ancient India had wrought?
In the early 1990s the Government of India launched a so called “Look East Policy” (LEP). There may have been three possible motivations behind such a policy. The first was to complement the emerging liberalization of the Indian economy with an export link to fast growing ASEAN economies and diversify away from excessive dependence on the US and Europe. The second may have been the desire to develop the North Eastern region of India by linking it to ASEAN states. The third may have been a sense of strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China's (PRC) influence within ASEAN.
Measured by those motivations of 20 years ago, what has LEP amounted to? In terms of commercial diplomacy there are some signs of progress. The ASEAN – India Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA) is due to be signed at the next ASEAN summit and take effect as of 2009. Should this happen, it suggests a step in the painful road back from India’s rejection of ASEAN’s invitation to join it as a founder member given non alignment compulsions at the time. AIFTA is expected to boost India-ASEAN trade from the current level of $ 38 billion in 2007-2008, by $ 10 billion in 2009-2010. Yet, as the global financial crisis of 2008 has unfolded resulting in the onset of one of the severest recessions in decades in the US and Europe, the knock on impact on India and on ASEAN countries like Cambodia has shown that “decoupling” is far from evident as yet. The forging of closer links between India and ASEAN has therefore been given added urgency.
Unless the LEP’s key direction changes from an inadequate tool of bilateral competition or internal development into an instrument for responsible development of economic integration of all Asian countries, the inevitable conclusion is that Indo-China will be an appropriate description of India’s relationship with Cambodia. The “Indo” portion will represent primarily a backward looking historic and cultural past, whilst the “China” portion will be the dominant force in terms of the economic and commercial future. It will be a test of India’s public private partnership to see if India can change the dynamics of the LEP to make it a meaningful dynamo for the emergence of an inclusive new Asian economic community.
—The author is country director, Cambodia Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank. These are his personal views
In the early 1990s the Government of India launched a so called “Look East Policy” (LEP). There may have been three possible motivations behind such a policy. The first was to complement the emerging liberalization of the Indian economy with an export link to fast growing ASEAN economies and diversify away from excessive dependence on the US and Europe. The second may have been the desire to develop the North Eastern region of India by linking it to ASEAN states. The third may have been a sense of strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China's (PRC) influence within ASEAN.
Measured by those motivations of 20 years ago, what has LEP amounted to? In terms of commercial diplomacy there are some signs of progress. The ASEAN – India Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA) is due to be signed at the next ASEAN summit and take effect as of 2009. Should this happen, it suggests a step in the painful road back from India’s rejection of ASEAN’s invitation to join it as a founder member given non alignment compulsions at the time. AIFTA is expected to boost India-ASEAN trade from the current level of $ 38 billion in 2007-2008, by $ 10 billion in 2009-2010. Yet, as the global financial crisis of 2008 has unfolded resulting in the onset of one of the severest recessions in decades in the US and Europe, the knock on impact on India and on ASEAN countries like Cambodia has shown that “decoupling” is far from evident as yet. The forging of closer links between India and ASEAN has therefore been given added urgency.
Unless the LEP’s key direction changes from an inadequate tool of bilateral competition or internal development into an instrument for responsible development of economic integration of all Asian countries, the inevitable conclusion is that Indo-China will be an appropriate description of India’s relationship with Cambodia. The “Indo” portion will represent primarily a backward looking historic and cultural past, whilst the “China” portion will be the dominant force in terms of the economic and commercial future. It will be a test of India’s public private partnership to see if India can change the dynamics of the LEP to make it a meaningful dynamo for the emergence of an inclusive new Asian economic community.
—The author is country director, Cambodia Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank. These are his personal views
3 comments:
If you voted for CPP (Cambodian People's Party):
Also known as:
Communist People's Party
Khmer Rouge People's Party
Khmer Krorhorm People's Party
You're support the killing of 1.7 million innocent Khmer peoples.
You're support the killing of innocent men, women and children in Cambodia on March 30, 1997.
You're support murder of Piseth Pilika.
You're support assassination of journalists in Cambodia.
You're support political assassination and killing.
You're support attemted assassination and murder of leader of the free trade union in Cambodia.
You're support corruption in Cambodia.
You're support Hun Sen Regime burn poor people's house down to the ground and leave them homeless.
These are the Trade Mark of Hun Sen Regime.
Hun Sen, Chea Sim and Heng Samrin are Khmer Rouge commanders.
When is the ECCC going to bring these three criminals to U.N. Khmer Rouge Trail?
Khmer Rouge Regime is a genocide organization.
Hun Sen Regime is a terrorist organization.
Hun Sen Bodyguards is a terrorist organization.
Hun Sen Death Squad is a terrorist organization.
Cambodian People's Party is a terrorist organization.
I have declare the current Cambodian government which is lead by the Cambodian People's Party as a terrorist organization.
Whoever associate with the current Cambodian government are associate with a terrorist organization.
Hun Sen's government (Cambodian People's Party) invented human right abuses, intimidation, death threats, assassination, murder, killing, eviction, land grabbing, injustice and corruptions in Cambodia.
These are some of Hun Sen Regime's Trade Mark.
Under Hun Sen Regime, no criminals that has been committed murder and all other crimes within Hun Sen's government ever been brought to Hun Sen Regime's court.
cambodia should ask asean and others to help solve the preah vihear issue with thailand as it seems to go nowhere or just goes in circle. it's a sign that dealing with thailand alone get us nowhere, so change our strategy by asking either asean nations and other western nations to help solve this issue once and for all. plus, it is good practice to get other countries to involve as they are our witness if we have to take thailand to court again over any border issues. wake up, cambodia.
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