India and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) have a whale of an opportunity to emulate European Union’s mantra of exemplary success in forging closer bonds — by focusing on putting in place road and rail connectivity and further strengthening air links.
There is no reason why India and Asean cannot form an IAU (Indo-Asean Union) on the lines of EU. This is far more doable than the SAU (South Asian Union) which has been talked of for years but the idea remains in a limbo because of political issues within South Asia which are largely India-Pakistan centric.
But there are no such problems plaguing India and Asean. Myanmar can play a pivotal role in making this happen as Myanmar is the only country of the 10-member Asean that shares boundary with India. Helpfully, India has an excellent bilateral relationship with Myanmar.
In fact, the setting up of IAU (Indo-Asean Union) can spur the hitherto elusive SAU (South Asia Union).
The benefits of the IAU, as proposed by this writer, are enormous for both the sides. For the Indian North East in particular it will be a red letter day when the IAU is formally launched. The eight Indian North East states will be integrated into the Indian mainstream like never before and their economy will grow by leaps and bounds as the North East region would then become a hub for India and even Bangladesh to reach out to the Asean region and farther.
What 11th Asean-India Summit can do?
The 11th Asean-India Summit in Brunei on 10 October is ideally placed to take the process of further integration of India and Asean forward in a big way. In fact, the straws in the wind suggest that the issue of connectivity of all sorts is very high on the radar screens of the eleven leaders at the forthcoming summit.
It will be the first summit between India and Asean after the elevation of their relationship to a strategic partnership. It would mark the maturing of this partnership as it enters its third decade.
The India-Asean bonding is going from strength to strength. This is reflected by the fact that the two sides have currently 26 inter-governmental mechanisms between them and the number is growing.
Ashok Kantha, secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs told this writer that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be discussing the progress in the key area of Asean-India connectivity in all its dimensions — geographic, institutional and people-to-people.
While giving an elaborate answer to a question from this writer on the status of a very small “missing link” in Moreh in Manipur, because of which India has not been able to get connected to Southeast Asia for years, Kantha assured that connectivity with Asean is an area of “very high priority” for the Indian government.
Here is Kantha’s response in full:
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