Page 100 - AEI Insights 2018 Vol 4 Issue 1

Mishra, 2018

1
India-ASEAN Cooperation in Agriculture and Forestry
Most of the ASEAN member countries and India have agriculture as the mainstay of their
economy. To further widen and deepen bilateral cooperation in that area, India and member
countries of ASEAN have institutionalised cooperation at the ministerial level called the India-
ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Agriculture Cooperation and Forestry. An annual ASEAN-
India Agriculture Ministers Meeting (AIMMAF) has been formalized, and since 2011 three
meetings have been held. The fourth ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi in January
2017. The ASEAN-India ministerial meeting gains salience in view of the fact that both India
and ASEAN member states are monsoon system economies; with most of them still dependent
on agriculture and all of them vulnerable to the vagaries of climate change and price volatility
of food supplies. Thus, the need to gain more resilience in fighting food vulnerability and
resultant sustainable development of agriculture, food processing, agro-marine processing, and
forestry becomes a top priority for policymakers from India and ASEAN countries alike
(Mishra, R. 2018a). Additionally, Climate change and the vagaries of weather obligate India
and ASEAN not only to share their best practices but also join hands for finding viable long-
term solutions. “Both ASEAN member countries and India need to effectively address the
challenge of putting agriculture back as the backbone of their bilateral trade as also improve
the overall standard of their farmers. Agricultural trade is a key driver of rural prosperity and
economic well-being, and should play a more important role in shaping the trade relations
between ASEAN and India” (Mishra, R. 2018a). ASEAN and India have several such
platforms in other domains such as tourism, science and technology, renewable energy etc.

ASEAN- India Business Council (AIBC)

Realizing that India-ASEAN cooperation cannot attain its full strength without the
participation of industry captains, the ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) was set up in
March 2003 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the ASEAN-India second Senior Economic Official
Meeting. AIBC is essentially a CEOs group institutionalised by the Ministry of Commerce,
Government of India. The AIBC aims to provide inject the much-needed industry perspective
so as to widen and deepen the economic linkages between ASEAN and India. To meet the
objective of strengthening India-ASEAN trade and commercial ties, the AIBC holds the AIBC
Business Forum, which focusses on significant areas such as: Promoting Regional Connectivity
- Infrastructure & Digital; Youth, Innovation & Technology; Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals;
Women Entrepreneurs; Education & Skill development; Developing New Markets (FICCI,
2018)

Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (RCEP)

In order to move forward in terms of integrating with other Asian economies, India decided to
join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2012. So far as RCEP itself
is concerned, it was conceptualized in 2011. The formal launch of RCEP took place in Phnom

1 This section draws from author’s earlier work, “India-ASAEAN Cooperation in Agriculture and Forestry”,
Commentary, External Services Division, All India Radio, January 16, 2018,
http://airworldservice.org/english/archives/category/commentary