'Narasimha Rao asked me why China was doing so well in attracting foreign investments and I gave my frank opinion.' 'I told him that giving thrust to exports had to be a national effort.' 'But in India, the system was very centralised in the Government of India and the state governments had no role to play.'
India is increasingly a willing participant in the evolving US' Indo-Pacific strategy. While these developments are related to the perception of a growing Chinese security challenge, their implications for India's much-vaunted strategic autonomy should be a matter of deeper and closer reflection, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
ASEAN's dialogue partners are -- Australia, China, the EU, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.
The SAARC nations have been more pragmatic than their peers in the ASEAN and EU, indicated an official source on the eve of the 17th SAARC Summit to be held in Male on November 10-11, even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for Maldives for the SAARC Summit on Wednesday.
These ambitious projects are littered with every possible acronyms and include proposed road links, air connectivity plans, electricity grids and special economic zones on coasts, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma met his counterparts from the ten Asean-member nations to review the progress of negotiations at Da Nang.
World Bank said on Thursday that the Indo-Asean free trade agreement would turn out to be a futile exercise unless India makes conscious efforts to lower tariffs and remove non-tariff barriers further.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his visit to the 13th Asean summit held at Singapore in November 2007, had indicated that India would take a flexible stand in the FTA talks.
The government on Monday said that two-way trade between India and Association of South East Asian Nations had the potential to more than double to $30 billion in next three years but it was necessary to put in place a low tariff regime.
Officials from India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would resume their talks to widen of the scope of a Free Trade Agreement with the 10-nation trading bloc to cover services and investment.
While addressing the 14th ASEAN-India summit, the PM noted that growing radicalism and spread of extreme violence are the other security threats.
The Indian economy may match the economies of the Association of South East Asian Nations in size by 2015, but in terms of labour productivity it will trail this grouping of 10 nations by a little under 20 per cent
The proposed Foreign Trade Agreement between India and Asean got a boost today as trade ministers of Asean countries agreed to India's proposal for reducing the negative list to 490 items
The pact on trade in goods under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement was signed by Indian commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and ASEAN economic ministers after more than six years of intense negotiations.
India made it clear on Thursday that it will insist on a sizeable negative list of items in the Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN and there will be no compromise on the number of agricultural and textile items in which duty free imports will be banned.
Accompanying the Veep on his first foreign yatra after being elected to the vice presidency in August is External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who, we guess, will do the heavy lifting at the summit, while Dhankar works his well known charm on the ASEAN leadership fraternity.
The 30-day visa-free entry is also currently enjoyed by eight ASEAN countries for the purpose of social visits, tourism and business.
French carmaker Citroen will launch its C3 Aircross Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) in India by October, and is betting big on exports from India to markets like South Africa, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and Nepal, a top company executive told Business Standard. Citroen, which sold 6,000 units through Citron C3 and C5 Aircross SUV, is likely to double its sales during the current year, as it has already sold 6,000 units of Citron C3 and eC3 electric vehicles during the first six months. "We are going to start bookings for the C3 Aircross SUV in September and launch it in October. Price will be at the heart of the midsize SUV market," said Saurabh Vatsa, Citroen India branch head.
The Indian champions beat Indonesia's Petrokimia Putra after a sudden-death penalty shoot-out.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Phnom Penh on Sunday and discussed bilateral ties, the raging Ukraine conflict, energy issues, G20 and the situation in the Indo-Pacific, days ahead of a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden.
Manmohan Singh faced stiff competition in Singapore. No, not at the East Asia Summit or in meetings with the Asean. But the rival attractions of two imaginative exhibitions on India's past and an exhaustive three-day conference titled "Early Indian Influences in Southeast Asia" eclipsed his presence while China's Wen Jiabao basked in media glory that reflected the reality of economic and military power.
In the ASEAN tournament, twelve teams from South and East Asia are pooled in four groups.
Pakistan and Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to begin talks for a Free Trade Agreement to boost Islamabad's efforts towards achieving full dialogue partner status with the ten-member regional economic grouping.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left Phnom Penh for home on Tuesday after attending the ASEAN and East Asia Summits besides holding talks with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts and interacting with United States President Barack Obama.
India on Saturday offered to help south-east Asian nations in the management of natural disasters by sharing satellite data for the region and launching small satellites built by them. "We would be ready to share satellite data for management of natural disasters, launch small satellites and scientific instruments and payloads for experiments in remote sensing and communication for space agencies and academic institutions in ASEAN countries," PM Manmohan Singh said.
The All India Kisan Sabha has expressed its displeasure on the signing of a Free Trade Agreement with the ASEAN nations. In a statement issued by the farmer's body they have criticised the centre for signing the FTA despite serious misgivings of state governments, peasant organisations and experts.Sectors like plantations, fisheries, textiles and light manufacturing goods will be seriously affected by this deal.
India had invited United States President Joe Biden to grace the occasion but he expressed inability to travel to New Delhi in January.
India and the 10-country trading bloc poised to ratify pact on trade in services soon
Addressing a party rally at Irutty near Kannur, Karat said a convention of the Left parties and their farm outfits would be held in New Delhi on August 26 to discuss the implications of the agreement and would work out the course of campaign. Karat said the government was now finding it convenient to go full steam ahead with its 'liberal' agenda which it could not do while it survived on the outside support of the Left.
The civil aviation ministry is soon going to move the Union Cabinet on the proposal to allow private domestic carriers, now operating to SAARC countries, to fly to ASEAN nations.
In a recent note, the global brokerage firm said India now commands a weight of 19 per cent in the above-mentioned portfolio as compared to 18.2 per cent in September 2023. India, it said, is a large liquid market and remains a counter-weight to North Asia if a slowdown in the West occurs and China's recovery disappoints.
The CEPAs with South Korea and Japan are likely to be concluded in September and October, respectively. While the pact with South Korea is likely to have only a moderate impact on the economic relationship between the two countries, the one with Japan will immensely help the Indian industry in gaining market access in the world's second largest economy. Currently, bilateral trade between India and Japan, which is currently close to $4 billion.
In a significant move to strengthen economic ties, India and 10 Association of South East Asian nations on Tuesday decided to set up a Regional Trade and Investment Area
Thailand, Indonesia want unconditional access to India's multi-brand retail space.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for Bali and Singapore on Thursday.
Sharma was speaking to journalists while returning with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Cambodia last night on special aircraft after attending the ASEAN and East Asia Summits.
This is possibly the first time Hasina's daughter will be by her mother's side during an official visit to close neighbour and ally India, and analysts believe this to be significant in many ways.
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