Udai Bhanu Singh replies: Though there is more to the India-ASEAN integration such as the people-to-people connectivity, cultural exchange, etc., but physical infrastructure is critical as a catalyst for other interactions including economic (trade and investment). The ‘Act East’ policy is expected to provide an impetus to the infrastructure projects under implementation from India's northeast and India's eastern seaboard.

Sampa Kundu replies: The ASEAN-India Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation (CECA) came into effect in 2010. The Agreement provides the basis for the ASEAN-India FTA in goods, services and investments, which will be fully functional by 2016. The FTA with the ASEAN is India’s first major multilateral FTA and a key step towards enhancing India’s Look East Policy.

Rup Narayan Das replies: The answer to the question is implicit in the question itself. Yes, the Chinese assertiveness in ASEAN is both a challenge and an opportunity for India. By Chinese assertiveness we mean China’s aggressive posturing on South China Sea and East China Sea issues. The two issues are different. Both, however, involve claims and counter-claims of territorial sovereignty. The claim of sovereignty also pertains to jostling for natural resources, including rich deposits of hydrocarbon. They also involve the issue of freedom of navigation. Managing China’s posturing poses a challenge to the countries of the reign. These challenges can be met strategically and diplomatically. India’s benign presence and role in the region will be reassuring to the countries of the region. An inclusive and transparent security architecture will go a long way in mitigating the persistent security dilemma.

On the other hand, China’s emergence as the world’s second largest economy offers India and the countries in the region an opportunity to engage with China, thoughtfully and imaginatively, for a mutually beneficial and win-win relationship. This is easier said than done, though. However, going by the immediate past experience, such as China’s role earlier in the Asian financial crisis and later in the world financial crisis, the economies of the region can be integrated through free trade agreements of various kinds, both bilaterally and multilaterally, for a mutually beneficial relationship in terms of trade and investment. But the interest of the domestic economy needs to be protected, and the pace and speed of economic integration accordingly determined.

Rukmani Gupta replies: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (or the TPP as it is generally known) is a free-trade agreement being negotiated between 11 countries of the Pacific rim including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States of America and Vietnam. Japan is the 12th country that has entered into the negotiations to join the TPP. The US administration under President Barack Obama seems to have prioritised the TPP as the economic component of its "rebalancing" to Asia strategy.

Some have suggested that the TPP would compete with existing and proposed free trade arrangements in Asia and pose a challenge to the economic unity between the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) states since some of them are members of the TPP and, moreover, the ASEAN itself is involved in negotiating a large trade agreement – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or the RCEP. The RCEP involves negotiations between 16 countries - the 10 members of the ASEAN and six regional partners (India, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand).

There is clearly an overlap in the membership of these two trade agreements. However, this does not necessarily imply that the goals of the two agreements are antagonistic. The TPP seeks to vastly reduce tariff levels among member countries and standardise policies on various issues including safeguarding intellectual property rights. The ambit of the RCEP is not quite as vast. The two can therefore be seen as different rungs on a free-trade agreement ladder. Although some American officials have stated that the US would welcome India’s participation in the TPP, India has not made any official statement on the issue suggesting such a move. It may be reasonable to expect that it will take some time before India would be amenable to joining a trade agreement such as the TPP, whose scope extends well beyond other trade agreements India has partnered in.