📝 Economy of India and Japan
🔸Economic relations between India and Japan have vast potential for growth, given the complementarities that exist between the two Asian economies.
🔸Japan's interest in India is increasing due to a variety of reasons including India's large and growing market and its resources, especially the human resources.
🔸 The India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that came into force in August 2011 is the most comprehensive of all such agreements concluded by India.
🔸 CEPA covers not only trade in goods but also Services, Movement of Natural Persons,Investments, Intellectual Property Rights, Custom Procedures and other trade related issues.
🔸Economic relations between India and Japan have vast potential for growth, given the complementarities that exist between the two Asian economies.
🔸Japan's interest in India is increasing due to a variety of reasons including India's large and growing market and its resources, especially the human resources.
🔸 The India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that came into force in August 2011 is the most comprehensive of all such agreements concluded by India.
🔸 CEPA covers not only trade in goods but also Services, Movement of Natural Persons,Investments, Intellectual Property Rights, Custom Procedures and other trade related issues.
📝 Bilateral Assistance and Investment
🔸Japan has been extending bilateral loan and grant assistance to India since 1958, and is the largest bilateral donor for India.
🔸Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) supports India’s efforts for accelerated economic development particularly in priority areas like power, transportation,
🔸Japan has been extending bilateral loan and grant assistance to India since 1958, and is the largest bilateral donor for India.
🔸Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) supports India’s efforts for accelerated economic development particularly in priority areas like power, transportation,
📝 Technology Cooperation Between India and Japan
🔸The bilateral Science & Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in 1985 underpins the bilateral S&T cooperation.The India-Japan Science Council (IJSC) was established in the year 1993.
🔸In 2006, Department of Science and Technology (DST) initiated a value based partnership working on the principles of 'reciprocity and co-funding with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) through MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).
🔸Since May 2015, about 250 students have visited Japan under the annual “Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science” also known as the “SAKURA Exchange Program"implemented by DST and JST.
🔸 During the September 2017 visit of Abe to India marked the commencement of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project (bullet train) with financial and technological support of Japan.
🔸The bilateral Science & Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in 1985 underpins the bilateral S&T cooperation.The India-Japan Science Council (IJSC) was established in the year 1993.
🔸In 2006, Department of Science and Technology (DST) initiated a value based partnership working on the principles of 'reciprocity and co-funding with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) through MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).
🔸Since May 2015, about 250 students have visited Japan under the annual “Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science” also known as the “SAKURA Exchange Program"implemented by DST and JST.
🔸 During the September 2017 visit of Abe to India marked the commencement of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project (bullet train) with financial and technological support of Japan.
📝 The Geo-Strategic Dimension of India amd Japan
🔸The strategic logic underpinning the cooperation between India and Japan is based on:
🔸 China: The recent joint statement, 2017, calls for “a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region where sovereignty and international law are respected, and differences are resolved through dialogue, and where all countries, large or small, enjoy freedom of navigation and overflight, sustainable development, and a free, fair, and open trade and investment system.” This is an obvious reference to Chinese assertion in recent times. The joint statement also endorses the principles on which India decided to sit out the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
🔸The strategic logic underpinning the cooperation between India and Japan is based on:
🔸 China: The recent joint statement, 2017, calls for “a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region where sovereignty and international law are respected, and differences are resolved through dialogue, and where all countries, large or small, enjoy freedom of navigation and overflight, sustainable development, and a free, fair, and open trade and investment system.” This is an obvious reference to Chinese assertion in recent times. The joint statement also endorses the principles on which India decided to sit out the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
📝Sluggish Progress: Views from Within
🔶For the first time member countries at the Thimpu Summit in Bhutan, marking the 25th anniversary, in 2010 expressed their frustration with SAARC’s sluggish progress.
🔶The then Prime Minister of India Manmoha Singh expressed his disappointment by saying that “the glass of regional cooperation, regional development and regional integration is half empty” and emphasized that “the region must be better connected, empowered, fed and educated” to achieve comparable success with other regional organizations.
🔶In 2014 PM Narendra Modi in his speech at the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu observed that “nowhere in the world are collective efforts more urgent than in South Asia; and, nowhere else is it so modest.”
🔶He also observed that “Each of us (South Asian Countries) has taken our own initiatives.
However, as SAARC we have failed to move with the speed that our people expect and
want”.
🔶For the first time member countries at the Thimpu Summit in Bhutan, marking the 25th anniversary, in 2010 expressed their frustration with SAARC’s sluggish progress.
🔶The then Prime Minister of India Manmoha Singh expressed his disappointment by saying that “the glass of regional cooperation, regional development and regional integration is half empty” and emphasized that “the region must be better connected, empowered, fed and educated” to achieve comparable success with other regional organizations.
🔶In 2014 PM Narendra Modi in his speech at the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu observed that “nowhere in the world are collective efforts more urgent than in South Asia; and, nowhere else is it so modest.”
🔶He also observed that “Each of us (South Asian Countries) has taken our own initiatives.
However, as SAARC we have failed to move with the speed that our people expect and
want”.
📝Expanding Scope In Relations of India and Japan
🔸In the few years the momentum in relationship is marked by the following developments:
🔸Since 2015 Japan has been made a permanent participant in the Malabar naval exercises which also involves the US;
🔸 the two countries have inked a civil nuclear deal in 2016—Japan’s first with a non-signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT);
🔸 the India-Japan-US trilateral has been upgraded to ministerial level; and
🔸 a new trilateral at the foreign secretary level has been initiated with Australia as the
third country.
🔸In the few years the momentum in relationship is marked by the following developments:
🔸Since 2015 Japan has been made a permanent participant in the Malabar naval exercises which also involves the US;
🔸 the two countries have inked a civil nuclear deal in 2016—Japan’s first with a non-signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT);
🔸 the India-Japan-US trilateral has been upgraded to ministerial level; and
🔸 a new trilateral at the foreign secretary level has been initiated with Australia as the
third country.
📝 The Island Dispute with China
🔸Ties between Japan and China have been strained by a territorial row over a group of islands, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China.
🔸 At the heart of the dispute are eight uninhabited islands and rocks in the East China Sea.They have a total area of about 7 sq km and lie north-east of Taiwan, east of the Chinese mainland and south-west of Japan's southern-most prefecture, Okinawa. The islands are controlled by Japan.
🔸They matter because they are close to important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and lie near potential oil and gas reserves.
🔸They are also in a strategically significant position, amid rising competition between the US and China for military primacy in the Asia-Pacific region.
🔸In 2013, China declared a formal Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) covering airspace over the islands and overlapping with airspace claimed by Japan.
🔸Ties between Japan and China have been strained by a territorial row over a group of islands, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China.
🔸 At the heart of the dispute are eight uninhabited islands and rocks in the East China Sea.They have a total area of about 7 sq km and lie north-east of Taiwan, east of the Chinese mainland and south-west of Japan's southern-most prefecture, Okinawa. The islands are controlled by Japan.
🔸They matter because they are close to important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and lie near potential oil and gas reserves.
🔸They are also in a strategically significant position, amid rising competition between the US and China for military primacy in the Asia-Pacific region.
🔸In 2013, China declared a formal Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) covering airspace over the islands and overlapping with airspace claimed by Japan.
📝Current Negotiation Framework
🔶 In 2003 during PM Vajpayee’s visit to China the 1st comprehensive document for development of bilateral ties was signed at the highest level. During this visit both sides agreed to establish a special representative mechanism for settling the boundary dispute issue.
🔶For resolving the border dispute the talks are supposed to proceed through a three staged process-
🔸 Stage 1- agreement on the broad principles and political parameters that will be followed for resolving the border dispute.
🔸 Stage 2- negotiating the broad framework for resolving disputes in all sectors
🔸Stage 3- delineating the border in maps and on ground
🔸In 2005, an agreement was reached on the “political parameters & guiding principles” (stage 1 of negotiations was completed) that should be followed to resolve the boundary dispute.
🔶 In 2003 during PM Vajpayee’s visit to China the 1st comprehensive document for development of bilateral ties was signed at the highest level. During this visit both sides agreed to establish a special representative mechanism for settling the boundary dispute issue.
🔶For resolving the border dispute the talks are supposed to proceed through a three staged process-
🔸 Stage 1- agreement on the broad principles and political parameters that will be followed for resolving the border dispute.
🔸 Stage 2- negotiating the broad framework for resolving disputes in all sectors
🔸Stage 3- delineating the border in maps and on ground
🔸In 2005, an agreement was reached on the “political parameters & guiding principles” (stage 1 of negotiations was completed) that should be followed to resolve the boundary dispute.
📝Issues to resolved and future challenges b/w India & Bangladesh
🔶 The Teesta River Water issue remains to be resolved
🔶Tipaimukh project on the Barak River has been a sensitive issue for Bangladesh.
🔶 The issue of illegal immigration is a sensitive issue for India and especially in states such as Assam. Where India remains sensitive to the issue of illegal immigrants, Bangladesh has consistently denied that Bangladeshis are illegally migrating
Favourable Trade conditions are especially important for Bangladesh
🔶Rohingya issue- it is a sensitive issue involving the migration of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh. India as key regional player is expected to play a positive role in the issue in which China is also actively involved.
🔶Bangladesh goes to elections in 2018. It would be especially sensitive time for the relations.
🔶The Agreement on Ganges Water would expire in 2026.
🔶 The Teesta River Water issue remains to be resolved
🔶Tipaimukh project on the Barak River has been a sensitive issue for Bangladesh.
🔶 The issue of illegal immigration is a sensitive issue for India and especially in states such as Assam. Where India remains sensitive to the issue of illegal immigrants, Bangladesh has consistently denied that Bangladeshis are illegally migrating
Favourable Trade conditions are especially important for Bangladesh
🔶Rohingya issue- it is a sensitive issue involving the migration of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh. India as key regional player is expected to play a positive role in the issue in which China is also actively involved.
🔶Bangladesh goes to elections in 2018. It would be especially sensitive time for the relations.
🔶The Agreement on Ganges Water would expire in 2026.
✏️PANCHASEEL AGREEMENT
🔶In this period the approach towards foreign relations was further underlined by the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence”, known as the Panchsheel Treaty between China and India in 1954.
🔶They were enunciated in the preamble to the "Agreement (with exchange of notes) on trade and intercourse between Tibet Region of China and India", which was signed at Peking on 29 April 1954.
This agreement stated the five principles as:
🔶1. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
🔶2. Mutual non-aggression.
🔶3. Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
🔶4. Equality and cooperation for mutual benefit.
🔶5. Peaceful co-existence.
🔶In this period the approach towards foreign relations was further underlined by the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence”, known as the Panchsheel Treaty between China and India in 1954.
🔶They were enunciated in the preamble to the "Agreement (with exchange of notes) on trade and intercourse between Tibet Region of China and India", which was signed at Peking on 29 April 1954.
This agreement stated the five principles as:
🔶1. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
🔶2. Mutual non-aggression.
🔶3. Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
🔶4. Equality and cooperation for mutual benefit.
🔶5. Peaceful co-existence.
📌ACTION - REACTION IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
🔸This term is mostly used in conflict analyses and game theory. Lewis Fry Richardson, a scholar who theorized the arms race, explained the concept in the Richardson process.
🔸To easily understand this concept, we can take example of two states, A and B. Let’s say, for instance, that State B increases its military capability.
🔸Perceiving this as a threat, State A reacts by increasing own military expenditure.
🔸The reaction by State A is perceived by State B differently. State B feels that increased military expenditure by State A has reduced the margins of safety of State B, and thus State B responds to it, in turn, by increasing its own arms budget. Thus, an action leads to a reaction.
🔸This term is mostly used in conflict analyses and game theory. Lewis Fry Richardson, a scholar who theorized the arms race, explained the concept in the Richardson process.
🔸To easily understand this concept, we can take example of two states, A and B. Let’s say, for instance, that State B increases its military capability.
🔸Perceiving this as a threat, State A reacts by increasing own military expenditure.
🔸The reaction by State A is perceived by State B differently. State B feels that increased military expenditure by State A has reduced the margins of safety of State B, and thus State B responds to it, in turn, by increasing its own arms budget. Thus, an action leads to a reaction.
📝The Sir Creek Issue: Significance
🔶 Over the years, the creek has also changed its course considerably. If one country agrees to the other’s traditional position, then the former will end up losing a vast amount of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
🔶 A vital reason for two countries locking horns over this creek is the possible presence of great oil and gas concentration under the sea, which are currently unexploited thanks to the impending deadlock on the issue.
🔶Because of various factors, the Sir Creek area is also a great fishing destination for hundreds of fishermen from both India and Pakistan. Sir Creek is considered to be among the largest fishing grounds in Asia. In the desperation for a great catch, many of their boats stray across the perceived boundaries, and they end up being arrested by the other side.
🔶 Maritime security concerns were heightened since November 2008, when 10 terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba left in a Pakistani boat for Mumbai.
🔶 Over the years, the creek has also changed its course considerably. If one country agrees to the other’s traditional position, then the former will end up losing a vast amount of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
🔶 A vital reason for two countries locking horns over this creek is the possible presence of great oil and gas concentration under the sea, which are currently unexploited thanks to the impending deadlock on the issue.
🔶Because of various factors, the Sir Creek area is also a great fishing destination for hundreds of fishermen from both India and Pakistan. Sir Creek is considered to be among the largest fishing grounds in Asia. In the desperation for a great catch, many of their boats stray across the perceived boundaries, and they end up being arrested by the other side.
🔶 Maritime security concerns were heightened since November 2008, when 10 terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba left in a Pakistani boat for Mumbai.
📝Democratic Transition in Maldives
🔶Maumoon Abdul Gauoom served as the president of Maldives from 1978 to 2008.
🔶 In 2008 under pressure from the civil society democratic reforms were initiated and a new constitution was adopted
🔶Mohamed Nasheed was the first democratically-elected President of Maldives in 2008. He was made to step down after a series of events that has been described in some quarters as a coup in 2012.
🔶Ever since the Indian Ocean archipelago is witnessing political tussles.
🔶Nasheed had taken refuge at Indian High Commission once, fearing arrest under the regime of his successor.
🔶In 2013 Abdulla Yameen was elected president in 2013
🔶Nasheed Was jailed for 13 years in 2015 on terrorism charges, his conviction was widely condemned internationally. In 2016 Mohd. Nasheed received poltical asylum in the UK
🔶Maumoon Abdul Gauoom served as the president of Maldives from 1978 to 2008.
🔶 In 2008 under pressure from the civil society democratic reforms were initiated and a new constitution was adopted
🔶Mohamed Nasheed was the first democratically-elected President of Maldives in 2008. He was made to step down after a series of events that has been described in some quarters as a coup in 2012.
🔶Ever since the Indian Ocean archipelago is witnessing political tussles.
🔶Nasheed had taken refuge at Indian High Commission once, fearing arrest under the regime of his successor.
🔶In 2013 Abdulla Yameen was elected president in 2013
🔶Nasheed Was jailed for 13 years in 2015 on terrorism charges, his conviction was widely condemned internationally. In 2016 Mohd. Nasheed received poltical asylum in the UK
📝India’s Contribution in Reconstruction Efforts
🔸 India has committed over 2 billion US$ for development efforts in Afghanistan.
🔸It has financed and built significant projects such as:
1.Delaram Zaranj Highway,
2. Parliament Building,
3. India Afghanistan Friendship Dam/Selma Dam, Hari River, Heart Province Transmission lines to Kabul.
🔸 While it has avoided its own military presence, India views foreign military presence in Afghanistan as indispensable in promoting political stability and development in the country. The USA has also urged India to get involved more.
🔸 India believes in invest and endure strategy for Afghanistan.
🔸 India has committed over 2 billion US$ for development efforts in Afghanistan.
🔸It has financed and built significant projects such as:
1.Delaram Zaranj Highway,
2. Parliament Building,
3. India Afghanistan Friendship Dam/Selma Dam, Hari River, Heart Province Transmission lines to Kabul.
🔸 While it has avoided its own military presence, India views foreign military presence in Afghanistan as indispensable in promoting political stability and development in the country. The USA has also urged India to get involved more.
🔸 India believes in invest and endure strategy for Afghanistan.
📝India-Maldives Relations
🛡️Background
🔶An archipelago of 1,200 coral islands, spanning roughly 115 square miles, Maldives is Asia's smallest nation, both by area and population.
🔶 India was among the first to recognise Maldives after its independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations with the country.
🔶 Indian Coast Guard's Dornier was the first to land at the Ibrahim Nasir Airport with relief and supplies after the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
🔶 India maintains a naval presence in Maldives, at the request of the Maldives, since 2009.
🔶 December 5, 2014, India dispatched “water aid” to the Maldivian capital of Male, after a fire destroyed the generator of its biggest water treatment plant.
🔶The first-ever presidential elections under a multi-candidate, multi-party system were held in October 2008 only to be removed in 2012 and replaced by Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in a 2013 election.
🛡️Background
🔶An archipelago of 1,200 coral islands, spanning roughly 115 square miles, Maldives is Asia's smallest nation, both by area and population.
🔶 India was among the first to recognise Maldives after its independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations with the country.
🔶 Indian Coast Guard's Dornier was the first to land at the Ibrahim Nasir Airport with relief and supplies after the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
🔶 India maintains a naval presence in Maldives, at the request of the Maldives, since 2009.
🔶 December 5, 2014, India dispatched “water aid” to the Maldivian capital of Male, after a fire destroyed the generator of its biggest water treatment plant.
🔶The first-ever presidential elections under a multi-candidate, multi-party system were held in October 2008 only to be removed in 2012 and replaced by Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in a 2013 election.
The U.S. Trade Representative highlighted IP challenges in India in its annual Special 301 report.
The report highlighted a range of issues in domains ranging from copyright and piracy to trademark counterfeiting and trade secrets, saying that India remained one of the world’s most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of IP.
It has decided to retain India on its Priority Watch List along with six other countries- Argentina, Chile, China, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela.
U.S. trade law (“Special 301”) requires an annual review of intellectual property protection and market access practices in foreign countries.
Trading partners that currently present the most significant concerns regarding IP rights are placed either on the Priority Watch List or Watch List
What are the Indian Issues Highlighted by USTR?
Patent issues continued “to be of particular concern in India,” highlighting the threat of patent revocations, lack of presumption of patent validity and narrow patentability criteria as issues which “impact companies across different sectors”.
The issue of narrow patentability criteria was again raised in relation to Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act, with the report saying that in the pharmaceutical sector, the United States “continued to monitor the restriction on patent-eligible subject matter in Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act and its impacts.
The report highlighted a range of issues in domains ranging from copyright and piracy to trademark counterfeiting and trade secrets, saying that India remained one of the world’s most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of IP.
It has decided to retain India on its Priority Watch List along with six other countries- Argentina, Chile, China, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela.
U.S. trade law (“Special 301”) requires an annual review of intellectual property protection and market access practices in foreign countries.
Trading partners that currently present the most significant concerns regarding IP rights are placed either on the Priority Watch List or Watch List
What are the Indian Issues Highlighted by USTR?
Patent issues continued “to be of particular concern in India,” highlighting the threat of patent revocations, lack of presumption of patent validity and narrow patentability criteria as issues which “impact companies across different sectors”.
The issue of narrow patentability criteria was again raised in relation to Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act, with the report saying that in the pharmaceutical sector, the United States “continued to monitor the restriction on patent-eligible subject matter in Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act and its impacts.
📝 Security Factor in the ASEAN region
🔸Faced with growing traditional and non-traditional challenges, politico-security cooperation is a
key and an emerging pillar of this relationship:
▫️Maritime security-Safeguarding Sea lanes of communication and combating piracy
▫️Radicalisation and terrorism
▫️ Drug trafficking and Human trafficking
▫️South China Sea disputes
🔸Faced with growing traditional and non-traditional challenges, politico-security cooperation is a
key and an emerging pillar of this relationship:
▫️Maritime security-Safeguarding Sea lanes of communication and combating piracy
▫️Radicalisation and terrorism
▫️ Drug trafficking and Human trafficking
▫️South China Sea disputes
📝The Indian Ocean
🔸 Indian Ocean, covers approximately one-fifth of the total ocean area of the world.
🔸 It is the smallest, geologically youngest, and physically most complex of the world’s three major oceans.
🔸 It stretches for more than 6,200 miles (10,000 km) between the southern tips of Africa and Australia and, without its marginal seas, has an area of about 28,360,000 square miles (73,440,000 square km).
🔸 The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude.
🔸 The Indian Ocean’s average depth is 12,990 feet (3,960 metres), and its deepest point, in the Sunda Deep of the Java Trench off the southern coast of the island of Java (Indonesia), is 24,442 feet (7,450 metres).
🔸 Indian Ocean, covers approximately one-fifth of the total ocean area of the world.
🔸 It is the smallest, geologically youngest, and physically most complex of the world’s three major oceans.
🔸 It stretches for more than 6,200 miles (10,000 km) between the southern tips of Africa and Australia and, without its marginal seas, has an area of about 28,360,000 square miles (73,440,000 square km).
🔸 The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude.
🔸 The Indian Ocean’s average depth is 12,990 feet (3,960 metres), and its deepest point, in the Sunda Deep of the Java Trench off the southern coast of the island of Java (Indonesia), is 24,442 feet (7,450 metres).
📝 Security status between India and Myanmar
🔸The Indian Armed Forces have traditionally had friendly relations with their Myanmar counterparts.
🔸Both countries face problems of armed separatist groups using each other’s soil.
🔸The KIA, an insurgent group in Myanmar, has backed India’s north-eastern separatist groups such as ULFA and the NSCN (Khaplang), in consultation with government officials in China’s neighbouring Yunnan province.
🔸The Indian Armed Forces have traditionally had friendly relations with their Myanmar counterparts.
🔸Both countries face problems of armed separatist groups using each other’s soil.
🔸The KIA, an insurgent group in Myanmar, has backed India’s north-eastern separatist groups such as ULFA and the NSCN (Khaplang), in consultation with government officials in China’s neighbouring Yunnan province.
📝RCEP Negotiations: From Trade to Economic Partnership
🔸While the India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement was inked and enforced from January 1,2010, India’s goods trade deficit with ASEAN widened from $4.98 billion in 2010-11 to $14.75 billion in 2015-16, and then narrowed to $9.56 billion in 2016-17.
🔸The huge goods trade deficit has led to questions on whether the pact is only helping ASEAN nations and not benefiting India.
🔸In this context the Proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is significant. The 19th round of the Trade Negotiating Committee meetings and other related meetings were held from 17 to 28 July 2017 in Hyderabad, India. 20th round of negotiations for RCEP were held in Incheon, Korea, from October 17 to 28, 2017.
🔸RCEP is a proposed comprehensive regional economic integration agreement or a mega Free Trade Agreement amongst the 10-ASEAN countries and its six Free Trade Agreements.
🔸While the India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement was inked and enforced from January 1,2010, India’s goods trade deficit with ASEAN widened from $4.98 billion in 2010-11 to $14.75 billion in 2015-16, and then narrowed to $9.56 billion in 2016-17.
🔸The huge goods trade deficit has led to questions on whether the pact is only helping ASEAN nations and not benefiting India.
🔸In this context the Proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is significant. The 19th round of the Trade Negotiating Committee meetings and other related meetings were held from 17 to 28 July 2017 in Hyderabad, India. 20th round of negotiations for RCEP were held in Incheon, Korea, from October 17 to 28, 2017.
🔸RCEP is a proposed comprehensive regional economic integration agreement or a mega Free Trade Agreement amongst the 10-ASEAN countries and its six Free Trade Agreements.
📝Significance of the Indian Ocean
🔸Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia).
🔸 The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia.
🔸 It has significant fisheries resources to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna.
🔸 Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia,Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean.
🔸Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia).
🔸 The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia.
🔸 It has significant fisheries resources to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna.
🔸 Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia,Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean.