R

ecently, the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a body comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, initiated a massive project to link land-locked and energy-rich Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan) to the Indian subcontinent via Afghanistan and Iran.

The successful establishment of this new and gigantic economic corridor will have a significant impact on Southeast Asia and the ASEAN economic zone. This new western economic corridor links Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iran through road networks and finally connects to the Iranian port of Chabahar. Chabahar, in turn, will link up to several ports in western India.

This corridor could make South Asia one of the largest economic zones in the world. This will not only benefit Iran and the Central Asian, SAARC and ASEAN member nations, but will also promote trade and commerce with adjoining Middle Eastern nations and the landlocked areas of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, South Russia, western China and Mongolia.

India is also developing a vast eastern economic corridor, connecting mainland India to her resource rich northeast districts and then linking together an international corridor reaching Southeast Asia via intricate road and railway networks across Bangladesh and Myanmar.

There is huge economic potential in this new economic corridor for both South and Southeast Asia. Indian-Indonesian socio-economic and cultural ties have been always strong and both nations have supported one another in difficult times.

It is important for both governments to come closer together through this process and establish stronger cooperative and collaborative relationships for the political stability, regional peace, progress and economic development of South and Southeast Asia.

Both nations should look to directly invest into each others'€™ internal markets. Stronger cultural, diplomatic, security, strategic and economic engagement between the SARRC and ASEAN economic blocks would further strengthen the hopes of a better future for this vast economic region.

Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge AB
Canada