Context- India will negotiate with the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to modernize their free trade agreement (FTA) to bring more balance in the pact.
ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITGA)
- India signed an FTA on items with ASEAN in 2009, which got into force in 2010.
- A separate FTA in services was signed in 2014.
- The FTA among India and ASEAN is also known as the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITGA).
- The pact ended in disproportionate advantages for ASEAN.
Revamping AITGA
- Changes in the Rules of Origin (ROO): It will work in the favor of India by increasing the marketplace’s right of entry for some objects as well as blockading viable re-routing of goods by means of China through the ASEAN countries.
- ROO are the standards to determine the starting place of a product and establish if it qualifies for duty cuts underneath an FTA.
- Product precise guidelines (PSRs): It might be added inside the ROO chapter which could assist India loosen up guidelines for certain gadgets to increase exports. At the same time, loopholes might be blocked to test circumvention by way of China.
- Trade remedies: The modernized AITGA will also have a bankruptcy on exchange treatments, in an effort to provide a safety net for home industry in opposition to unfair alternate practices or unforeseen surges in imports of products.
India-ASEAN Relations
- Defense Relations: Recently The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Indian Navy (IN) co-hosted the first ever ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise off the coast of Singapore.
- With AIME-2023 India turns into the 4th ASEAN talk associate, after Russia, China and America to maintain the ASEAN+1 maritime workout.
- ASEAN-India Friendship Year: The year 2022 marks the thirtieth Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations & the tenth anniversary of India’s Strategic Partnership with ASEAN.
- Connectivity and Infrastructure: Initiatives which include the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project aim to enhance bodily connectivity between India and ASEAN, promoting exchange and economic integration.
- Multi-level interaction: In their family members on the apex is the yearly summit which is ASEAN-India Summit. Further there are active engagement through ASEAN-led mechanisms, such as:
- East Asia Summit,
- ASEAN Regional Forum,
- ADMM-Plus.
- Delhi Dialogue: The ‘Delhi Dialogue’ (DD) mechanism hosted by using India annually. It is historically inaugurated mutually via India and ASEAN on the Foreign Minister’s degree.
- It serves as the principal Track 1.5 mechanism for engagement.
- Maritime Connectivity & Security: India is surrounded by the Indian Ocean and ASEAN Countries have borders with Indo-Pacific waters. India is consciously running with ASEAN toward a imaginative and prescient of an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific in tandem with projects inclusive of;
- The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI),
- To make sure Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).
- India and some of the ASEAN international locations are also participants of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
- About: It is a political and monetary business enterprise aimed normally at selling economic increase and local stability amongst its members.
- Members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
- History: It became hooked up in 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by way of the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN in 1984, followed by Vietnam in 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999.
- ASEAN Summit: It is the very best policy-making body in ASEAN comprising the Head of States or Government of ASEAN Member States. Summit is held two times annually.
- The First ASEAN Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976.
Importance
- ASEAN holds strategic importance for India in phrases of financial collaboration, political engagement, cultural ties, and local safety.
- Strengthening relations with ASEAN aligns with India’s broader aim of enhancing its presence and impact inside the Asia-Pacific region.
- India became an ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 1996.
- ASEAN accounted for eleven.3% of India’s global exchange in 2022-23.
Source: The Hindu
Practice question:
Q. How many member countries are there in ASEAN?
- 8
- 10
- 12
- 15
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