South-East Asia - BureaucratONE

Policy for South-East Asia

History (Prior to independence)
- Trade and culture link of Hinduism and Buddhism
- India supported the decolonization process (Specific to Indonesia)
  - Q/ Role of India in the process of decolonization in Southeast Asia
- Migration
  - Diaspora link 
Pre cold war situation
- NAM
- Pro USSR (1971 friendship treaty)
- Closed economy

Cold war
- SEATO
- Pro USSR (Vietnam war)
- Open economy (export)

Post-cold war
- Impact of neo-liberalism (globalization)
- Indian economy was dependent on USSR -> After USSR collapse -> look at east
- Q/ Is look east policy product of globalization?
- Q/ Is look east policy realistic? (threat of rising China)
- Q/ Is look east policy based on idea of pluralism ? -> Diversifying foreign policy
- LPG reform -> Open economy -> Opportunity for south east ASEAN countries

Look east policy 1
- Proposed by Narsimha Rao
- Components
  - Specific focus on South East ASEAN countries
  - Specific focus on Economic
Look east policy 2
- Components
  - Entire East Asia
  - North East as a major component
  - Economic + Security, strategic focus
Act east policy
- By NAMO
- 3Cs = Cultural + Commercial + Connectivity
- Initiatives
  - Invited as guest on 2018 republic day parade
  - Reduction in tariffs under APTA (Asia-Pacific trade agreement)
  - Strategic partnership with Singapore 2015
  - Upgrading strategic partnership with Vietnam and Malaysia
  - Special strategic partnership singed with South Korea in 2015
  - Indo- ASEAN commemorative summit
  - Initiatives under connectivity
  - Renewed BIMSTEC
  - Formation of QUAD
  - INDO-Pacific vision statement 2018
  - India as part of Asia Pivot and Indo-Pacific vision statement by US

India and east ASEAN organizations
- Indo-ASEAN
  - General details
    - In 1992, India became sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN (only concerned with those issues with affect India)
    - 1995, Full dialogue partner
    - 1996, ARF (ASEAN Regional forum)
    - 2002, Summit level partner
    - 2003, Treaty of amity and cooperation
    - 2003, India signed a cooperation agreement on counter-terrorism
    - 2009, FTA in goods
    - 2014, FTA in services (sign but not ratified)
    - 2018, Commemorative summit

Economic
- FTAs
  - Idea began in 2003 @ BALI (framework agreement was signed)
  - 2009, Bangkok
  - 2010, Ratified and implemented
  - Reduction in tariffs on major trading goods
  - Criticism ◊ SE ASEAN countries are more capable to getting market access rather than India as they are more export driven and India relies on domestic consumption ◊ After 2002, there has been trade deficit between India and ASEAN ◊ Plantation goods, Marine products and dairy sector will be harmed because of flooding of goods
  - Solutions ◊ FTA in services (signed in 2014 but not ratified by Indonesia and Singapore)
- Blue economy
  - Ocean based green economy which involves economic advantages and ecological preservation
  - Based on the concept of sustainable development
  - Spatial planning ◊ Public process of analyzing and allocating human activities temporality and spatially
  - Components ◊ Open and inclusive seas ◊ Infrastructure related activities ◊ Interconnectivity among countries ◊ Sustainable use of marine resources ◊ Waste to energy projects (usage of coastal debris to produce energy) ◊ Mineral exploration ◊ Coastal development
  - Initiatives taken ◊ Maritime vision 2020 ◊ SAGAR ◊ SAGAR MALA ◊ Project spice route ◊ Project Mausam ◊ National action mission on coastal management ◊ Project by MOEF: 'Large marine ecosystem project in Bay of Bengal' ◊ Recent Maritime summit @ Mumbai
    - RCEP
Security relation
- Terrorism
- Organized crimes
- 2006, member of ARF
- 2003, COUNTER terrorism initiatives
- Quad
- India as a regional player as part of Indo-Pacific vision statement and Asia Pivot
- Naval exercise (Malabar)
- Q/ Convergence of interest is more on the field of security and not on economy. 
Culture:
- Buddhism,
- Hinduism,
- Diaspora,
- culture as a major component under Act east, project Mausam
- center for BOB studies in Nalanda University 
Concerns
Economic vs security debates

India-BIMSTEC
India-MGC
- MGC
  - Counter china influence
  - Hydro electric energy
India- APEC
India Specific countries
- Template of answers
  - Collect points of convergence and points of conflict
  - Diaspora 
- Indonesia
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Philippines
- Japan
- Australia
- South Korea
  - Reasons for cooperation
    - South Korea which was excessively dependent on US is now exploring other options
    - Rising Chinese hegemony specifically its action in South China sea and the influence it holds on North Korea
    - Doklam issue raised the stature of India
    - Act east and S Korea's new southern policy both complementary ◊ Based on peace, prosperity and people
  - Recent Initiative
    - 2015, strategic partnership was signed
    - 2015, PMO established Korean plus Desk to facilitate trade
    - 2018, Head of state of SK visited India and 11 MOUs were signed ◊ Strategic cooperation (tri-lateral agreements: to cooperate in third countries [e.g. Afghanistan]) ◊ Early harvest scheme
  - Concerns
    - Korea complains of difficulty in doing business in India
    - Trade deficit against India
    - No people to people contact and tourism potential has not been harnessed

Broder dimension in South East Asia

South China sea conflict
- 35M SQ Km
- Take of China
  - Claiming certain areas of South China sea as part of 9 Dashed line
  - 9 Dashed line is a virtual line under UNCLOS which segregates certain territories of South China sea as part of China
- Importance of south China sea
  - Mineral resources
  - Trade routes
- China following passive activities
  - Fishing
  - Building artificial land
- Countries involved
  - Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei
  - China doesn't want to internationalize the issue
  - Philippines appealed @ICJ

US intervention
India's role and Indo-Pacific vision statement 2018 by India
1. Open and inclusive seas wherein every country is given its due
2. South east Asia is central to Indo-Pacific and ASEAN is central to its working
3. Multilateralism should be respected. It should be a fine balance between national sovereignty and rule based world order
4. Equal access to resource for all countries
5. Protectionist policies should be avoided. In the context of RCEP for both goods and services in equal measure
6. Establishing connectivity is of significant importance
7. Ocean should be places of competition and not conflict

North east and Look east policy

Neoliberal vs Communitarian principle
Issues
- Land acquisition issues with respect to infrastructure development
- Extraction of the resource owned by the community
- Inner line permit: facing the issue of consolidation
- Labor mobility -> ethnic clashes, skewing the matrilineal society
- Growth of the sex market surrounding infrastructure project
- Unskilled youth in NE when denied employment opportunities -> Rise of thugs of Hindostan
Solution
- Tribal Panchsheel model should be inculcated