Context:
Recent visits by the heads of states of various countries in the South Asian region provides a ground on discussion of growth of the region and role of India’s growth in the integration of the region.
India is emerging as the third-largest economy and a major tech hub.
- Examples:
- The recent visits to India by Nepal’s Prime Minister and Sri Lankan President highlight the shifting currents in South Asian regionalism.
- The new external push to the Subcontinent’s economic integration:
- The Japanese Foreign Minister’s recent travels to India, Colombo, and Male.
- A surprising visit to Sri Lanka by the French President.
South Asian Region:
- Comprises: It is the southern region of Asia that consists of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
- Demography: South Asia’s people are its biggest asset but remain wastefully underutilized.
- Half its population is under the age of 24 and over one million young people are set to enter the labor force every month until 2030.
- If the quantity and quality of South Asia’s human capital were to improve, regional GDP per worker could double.
Earlier Pessimistic Discourse on the South Asian Regionalism:
- Least Interaction & Insufficient Connection: South Asia is the least integrated region and insufficiently connected to the world.
- SAARC is the ultimate way for Integration: The road to regional integration in the Subcontinent must necessarily run through the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
- However, experience clears out that a successful SAARC is not a precondition for thriving economic regionalism.
An Era of 1990s & Beyond:
- The liberalization and globalization of the South Asian economies began in the 1990s.
- Growth in the Region by Trade & Connectivity: It marked the growth of regionalism in the Subcontinent and a new interest in trade and connectivity.
- Concerns:
- Uneven Economic Reforms: Economic reform was uneven across the region.
- Security Challenges: Less support for cross-border connectivity projects amidst multiple political disputes among the region resulted in the region’s security challenges.
Growth in the 21st century:
- A Phase of Improvement: The 21st century has seen considerable improvement within the Subcontinent and in the connections between South Asia and the world.
- Growth in Trade: The share of intra-regional trade in the Subcontinent’s trade with the world has grown from about 2 percent in 1990 to about 6 percent.
- Challenge:
- The trade share is nowhere near the potential or the achievements of other parts of Asia.
- But the direction is clearly positive.
Factors Accelerating Regional Economic Integration:
- Economic Reforms: The renewed pressure to undertake economic reform.
- India’s Growth: India’s relative economic weight in the world has grown and also its commercial ties with neighbors have increased.
- Connectivity: Major initiatives for cross-border connectivity now complement India’s growing trade volumes with its neighbors.
- Infrastructure: Trans-border projects to promote rail, road, energy, power, financial, and digital connectivity have all gained momentum in India’s engagement with its neighbors.
- The Statistics:
- Bangladesh is the fourth-largest destination for Indian exports — valued at about $16 billion in 2022.
- India’s exports to Sri Lanka at about $6 billion are comparable with India’s exports to Japan.
- Delhi’s exports to Nepal are more impressive at $8.5 billion.
- China Factor:
- The rivalry between the US and China and the deepening conflict between India and China have changed the Subcontinent’s geo-economic template.
- In de-risking their commercial ties with China, the US and its allies now actively promote economic and technological engagement with India.
- Co-Working: India is now working with its like-minded partners to offer credible economic alternatives to its neighbors.
- They are also promoting economic integration between India and its smaller neighbors.
- Examples:
- The US helped Nepal’s energy and road connectivity with India with the $500 million Millennium Challenge Grant.
- Japan is now promoting sub-regional connectivity between India and Bangladesh that can potentially transform the economic map of the eastern subcontinent and the Bay of Bengal.
Conclusion:
- India has a long way to go before it can radically restructure South Asia’s economic architecture, but it now has economic weight and political purpose to ensure the integration of the region.
- The region’s new economic openness, India’s flourishing neighborhood policies, and Western support for an India-centered regionalism in South Asia could transform the Subcontinent’s geo-economic landscape.
Additional Information:
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC):
- Establishment: On 8th December 1985, with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka
- Member Countries: Afghanistan Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
- The Headquarters and Secretariat: Kathmandu, Nepal
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News Source: The Indian Express
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