Significance of Regional Connectivity in Asia

What is the issue?

• India recently declined to endorse China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
• But Regional connectivity projects between India and China will benefit south Asian region.

What are regional connectivity developments in Asia?

• Indo-Myanmar- Thailand Trilateral Highway - India, Thailand and Myanmar are working on about 1,400km long highway that would link India with Southeast Asia by land.
• This highway will give a boost to trade, business, health, education and tourism ties among the three countries.
• China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - Itis a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan.
• Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) –It is a development strategy proposed by China, focuses on connectivity and cooperation between Eurasian countries.
• Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) – It is a motor vehicles agreement which has seen a positive development recently.
• It proved the ambition of establishing physical connectivity among the smaller states of South Asia through India can eventually be realised.

What is the significance of regional connectivity in Asia?

• Poor connectivity is the major reason why intra-regional trade is among the lowest in South Asia.
• South Asia, with its 1.8 billion population, is only capable of conducting around 5% intraregional trade as connectivity remains a constant barrier.
• Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) continue to plague the region and addressing infrastructure deficits can do away with 80% of the NTBs.
• Thus Connectivity can significantly improve people-to-people interaction leading to better understanding, greater tolerance and closer diplomatic relations in the region.

What are the concerns with regional connectivity in Asia?

• States in South and Southeast Asia are involved in multiple regional initiatives led by India and China but are unable to get the benefit due to their slow progress.
• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation remains moribund with little hope of it becoming functional in the near future.
• The Bay of Bengal too remains among the least integrated regions in spite of having immense potential of enhancing trade through utilisation of its ports and waterways.
• The India-led Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, has made little progress.
• Thus manysmaller states are losing out and having to pay the price of missed economic opportunities due to the actions of the two Asian giants.

What is measures needs to be taken to address such issues?

• If the BRI, BIMSTEC and BBIN were developed through coordination and consultation led by the two Asian giants, the projects under the schemes could have been implemented more efficiently.
• With the minimum required cooperation in pursuing regional initiatives, India and China can significantly enhance trade, investment and connectivity in the region.
• India-China has an opportunity to forge a pragmatic understanding on the efficacy of regional initiatives through greater communication, enhanced cooperation and better coordination.

Source: The Hindu