Speaker Profile: Prof. Amita Batra

Dr. Amita Batra is Associate Professor, Economics in South Asian Studies at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has worked as Senior Fellow at the ICRIER, New Delhi for five years and before that as Reader, Economics, Hindu College, University of Delhi. Dr. Batra has been Visiting Professor, at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She has to her credit several national and international publications in refereed and other journals including two Books namely ‘India and the Asian Corridor’ and ‘Preferential Trading Agreements in Asia: towards an Asian Economic Community’. She was a visiting scholar at the Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National University, Canberra and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. Dr. Batra has also worked as a Consultant for international organizations including the World Bank, New Delhi. Dr. Batra has an M.Phil. and Ph. D. in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India.

ABSTRACT

Future of Regional Cooperation: BIMSTEC*

This paper will examine the BIMSTEC initiative in terms of its potential for widening the network for outward oriented growth in this part of Asia. The paper argues that BIMSTEC, a dynamic initiative, can emerge as a bridge between the more inward oriented South Asia, and the more outward oriented South East Asia. The paper will also highlight the benefits that the BIMSTEC Agreement has to offer for growth and development of NE India as also the prospects it holds for a much larger Pan-Asian economic cooperation in the long run.