India Partnership
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COMMEMORATING 20 YEARS OF ASEAN - INDIA PARTNERSHIP Contents 8 3 11 MESSAGE Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India 4 MESSAGE Mr Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs of India 5 MESSAGE Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary General of ASEAN 7 MESSAGE Mr Adi B Godrej, President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 8 INDIA-ASEAN VIEWPOINTS India’s ASEAN Way by Mr Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of India to Indonesia, Timor-Leste and ASEAN 20 11 INTERVIEW Charting CII’s Role and Progress by Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of CII 14 INDIA-ASEAN VIEWPOINTS A Historic Moment for Regional Peace, Prosperity & Progress: Messages from Indian and ASEAN Ambassadors and High Commissioners 20 ASEAN-INDIA CAR RALLY 2012 Celebrating 20 Years of India and ASEAN Partnership 22 ASEAN-INDIA CAR RALLY 2004 The Public Face of ASEAN-India Relations 32 24 ECONOMIC OVERVIEW Bilateral Trade Registers Steady Growth 28 BUSINESS CONNECTIVITY Investment and Aid Connections Grow Stronger 30 BILATERAL TIES Trilateral Highway – A Boon for Business 32 ARTS & CULTURE A Cultural Tapestry 35 HISTORICAL TIES Through the Looking Glass 38 42 TOURISM India - Exotic, Incredible, Eclectic & Inspiring 42 TOURISM Jewels of South-east Asia 48 CUISINES On the Food Trail – Connecting with Cuisine 52 FOR POSTERITY A Momentous Occasion PUBLISHER Sun Media Pte Ltd CII ADVISOR Kavita Choudhry 48 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Nomita Dhar EDITOR Sushmita Bhowmick Syed Jaafar Alkaff SUB EDITOR Neha Lad EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Arjun Dhar ADVERTISING & Parul Goswami MARKETING ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Dilip Kumar Valerius R Boenawan PHOTO CREDITS Governments and Ministries of ASEAN and India PRINTING KWF Printing Pte Ltd EDITORIAL OFFICE Sun Media Pte Ltd, 20 Kramat Lane,#01-02 United House, Singapore - 228773. Tel: (65) 6735 2972 / 1907 / 2986 Fax: (65) 6735 3114 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.sunmediaonline.com © Copyright 2012 by Sun Media Pte Ltd. The opinions, pronouncements or views expressed For further inquiries, please contact: or implied in this publication are those of the authors or contributors. They do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Government of India, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) their authorities nor their agents and representatives. The aim of this publication is to guide South East Asia Regional Office and provide general information. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy 47 Hill Street, SCCCI Building, #07-02 Singapore 179365 of all information contained, the publisher cannot be liable for any loss incurred in any way Tel: (65) 6333 4363 Fax: (65) 6883 0658 whatsoever by any entity, company, organisation or a person relying on this information. Email: [email protected] Website: www.cii.in messageFROM PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA The natural synergy of India’s partnership with ASEAN is underpinned by strong civilizational ties, vibrant people-to-people relations and extensive commercial opportunities. Over the last two decades since the launch of India’s “Look East” policy, the political canvas of our relations too has expanded, beginning with a Dialogue Partnership and consolidated by annual engagements at the Summit level. India’s developmental partnership with ASEAN is contributing to capacity- building and integration in the region, while our cooperation in meeting common security challenges is enhancing peace and stability. Today, India is privileged to be a part of the political, economic and security architecture currently under evolution in our shared region. I am glad that the Confederation of Indian Industry is organizing an ASEAN-India Car Rally to promote greater mutual awareness, discovery and understanding. The Rally, which will pass through a number of ASEAN countries and bring together people from all walks of life in India and ASEAN, will reaffirm the physical and emotional connectivity that binds our two regions. It will also serve to highlight the distance that we have travelled as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of our Dialogue Partnership and a decade of ASEAN-India Summits. The DR MANMOHAN SINGH Rally will also be a fitting prelude to the ASEAN-India Commemorative Prime Minister of India Summit that India is hosting in New Delhi in December this year to mark a new beginning in our relations. I compliment the CII for taking this initiative. I wish the Car Rally a smooth and successful journey in its noble mission. 3 messageFROM MINISTER OF EXTERNAL affairs, INDIA I am pleased to learn that Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is bringing out a commemorative publication to mark 20 years of ASEAN-India Dialogue Partnership. I wish to commend CII for taking this initiative. The contours of the Dialogue Partnership between ASEAN and India have developed into a rich and diverse canvas of cooperation across a wide array of sectors, including agriculture, tourism, environment, energy, business entrepreneurship and trade, and capacity building. At this commemorative time in the relationship, ASEAN and India recognize the contribution of their dialogue partnership to bring about peace and stability in the region and also achieve progress and prosperity for the people of ASEAN and India. Connectivity at people- to-people, institution and geographic levels, is the strategic core of SALMAN KHURSHID the ASEAN and India partnership. Minister of External Affairs, India Meetings and events being organized in the commemorative year, including the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012 and its related business and cultural events, will focus on the enormous potential that exists in the unique partnership between ASEAN and India. I am convinced of the unique relevance of the ASEAN-India partnership to meeting the aspiration of our people and to fostering growth and prosperity, peace and stability in the region. 4 messageFROM SECretarY GENERAL OF ASEAN The past decade has seen a dramatic transformation of East Asia in the strategic, security, and economic affairs of the global community. India and China have been the two engines of growth, not only for East Asia, but also for the world economy as a whole. ASEAN has found ourselves both geographically and strategically in the middle of these two emerging economic giants. And we have drawn synergy from both of them to spur our own impressive growth. Going forward, we must endeavor to maintain this dynamic and strategic balance for our common regional security and prosperity. I am confident the re-engagement of the United States in Asia will not rock the boat, as many had feared. That’s because ASEAN have always been a friend to everyone. The emergence or re-emergence of any one power does not displace another from the region. That is the attraction of ASEAN Centrality. China and India have influenced South-east Asia centuries ago, and they will continue to have a role in ASEAN. We are so connected that even natural disasters like the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, made no difference between South-east Asia or India. Looking ahead, I would like to encourage the two sides to step up our exchanges. Over the years, ASEAN and India have expanded our cooperation to include human resource development, science and technology (S&T), people-to-people contacts, health and pharmaceuticals, transport and infrastructure, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), tourism, information and communication technology (ICT), agriculture, and energy. India has also actively supported the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), by funding cooperation projects under the ASEAN-India Fund (AIF). DR SURIN PITSUWAN A cornerstone of our relationship is the ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress Secretary General of ASEAN and Shared Prosperity, which was adopted by the Leaders at the 3rd ASEAN-India Summit in November 2004 in Vientiane. The Plan of Action or PoA as we call it, is to carry out through activities under the various existing ASEAN sectoral work plans, Declarations concluded between ASEAN and India, as well as priority activities under the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community 2009-2015. At the 7th ASEAN-India Summit held in October 2009, our leaders also noted with satisfaction the steady progress of implementation of the ASEAN–India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity. The Summit also agreed on a new and more enhanced phase of the PoA to seize the opportunities, and overcome the challenges arising from the global financial crisis, as well as the evolving political and economic landscape. Subsequently, the new ASEAN-India Plan of Action for 2010-2015 was developed and adopted by the Leaders at the 8th ASEAN-India Summit in October 2010 in Hanoi. Under the IAI Work Plan, India is also contributing with the Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDC) and the Centres for the English Language Training (CELT) in Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. India also agreed to support a similar centre in Indonesia. With agriculture being the key sector in so many of our ASEAN Member States, it is only natural that we cooperate with India on agricultural matters, as well as climate change. The ASEAN-India Green Fund was set up in 2010, with an initial contribution of US$ 5 million, to support cooperative pilot projects aimed at adapting to and mitigating climate change. When we meet in November in Phnom Penh, we will be initiating the ASEAN Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This exciting initiative will try to connect ASEAN’s Free Trade Agreement with India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. We have learnt from past financial crises that we need to keep our markets open, and promote economic cooperation to stay afloat. The ASEAN RCEP, which will encompass half the human race, is certainly an ambitious project. But we must bear in mind that we are living in exceptional times, and we will need exceptional initiatives to tackle the challenges. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the rewards for our people and economies would be worth the while.