Safta and India Report
Making SAFTA a Success: The Role of India
R. S. Ratna* # Geetu Sidhu
*
Director (Regional and Multilateral Trade Relations), Department of Commerce, Government of India; Email: rsratna@nic.in # Deputy Adviser, Planning Commission, Government of India; Email: gsidhu@nic.in
This paper is written under a research grant from the Commonwealth Secretarial, London to CUTS International, Jaipur. Views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily reflect those of their institutions and of the Commonwealth Secretariat and CUTS International.
1
Table of Content
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. 4 1. Introduction....................................................................................................................... 5 2. SAARC: An overview of cooperation................................................................................ 7 3. Trade Agreements in SAARC region................................................................................. 9 4. India’s Trade with SAARC Members .............................................................................. 19 5. Role of India in SAFTA: What does the Literature Say?.................................................. 31 6. NonTariff Barriers: Addressing them to Ensure Secured Market Access ........................ 36 7. India’s Engagements in Other RTAs visàvis SAFTA .................................................... 41 8. Regionalism versus Multilateralism................................................................................. 46 9. SAFTA and India: The Road to Success.......................................................................... 49 10. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 52 Annexure 1: India’s Imports: SAARC and Global – A
R. S. Ratna* # Geetu Sidhu
*
Director (Regional and Multilateral Trade Relations), Department of Commerce, Government of India; Email: rsratna@nic.in # Deputy Adviser, Planning Commission, Government of India; Email: gsidhu@nic.in
This paper is written under a research grant from the Commonwealth Secretarial, London to CUTS International, Jaipur. Views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily reflect those of their institutions and of the Commonwealth Secretariat and CUTS International.
1
Table of Content
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. 4 1. Introduction....................................................................................................................... 5 2. SAARC: An overview of cooperation................................................................................ 7 3. Trade Agreements in SAARC region................................................................................. 9 4. India’s Trade with SAARC Members .............................................................................. 19 5. Role of India in SAFTA: What does the Literature Say?.................................................. 31 6. NonTariff Barriers: Addressing them to Ensure Secured Market Access ........................ 36 7. India’s Engagements in Other RTAs visàvis SAFTA .................................................... 41 8. Regionalism versus Multilateralism................................................................................. 46 9. SAFTA and India: The Road to Success.......................................................................... 49 10. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 52 Annexure 1: India’s Imports: SAARC and Global – A