India for increased technological cooperation with ASEAN

By Amit Baruah

HANOI, JULY 27. India today came out with many proposals at the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC) meeting to take its dialogue partnership with the Association of South-East Asian Nations to a higher plane.

Addressing the ASEAN PMC+India meeting, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr. K.C. Pant, made specific and detailed suggestions for enhanced cooperation.

Besides proposing increased cooperation in technology sectors, Mr. Pant suggested the convening of an ASEAN-India Trade Ministers meeting later this year in New Delhi. ``There is much scope for expanding and deepening our cooperation agenda, for there is much in common between India's goals for economic development and those of ASEAN. The possibilities of functional cooperation between us are limitless. India is hopeful that our enthusiasm and our efforts will result in tangible gains for all of us.''

The leader of the Indian delegation also referred to an ongoing study on ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)-India trade and investment linkages (a report on which was likely to be submitted by August). ``Our experts have been asked to highlight the potential for profitable business exchanges in specific areas and in identified products... and services, apart from the barriers to be tackled in increasing trade and investment flows,'' he said.

Referring to the IT sector, Mr. Pant said India had organised a six-week training programme for 94 ASEAN candidates in advanced software techniques last year at the National Institute for Information Technology (NIIT). ``We understand that the training was useful, and that many ASEAN countries have requested that such training programmes be conducted on an annual basis. In response, India would suggest that some scholarships, say 50 out of the other 100 scholarships that it is offering to ASEAN on an annual basis under the ASEAN-India HRD Programme, be used for IT purposes,'' he said.

India would like to participate in the ``Initiative for ASEAN Integration'' by taking up projects in the IT sector in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV), he said. These would include e- governance and use of IT in rural areas.

``ASEAN and India have also collaborated in setting up the ASEAN- India Digital Archive (AIDA), which is being implemented in two phases. Phase-I is complete and has provided multi-media representation of common phrases and terms in various ASEAN languages as well as in Hindi and English. We are agreed that the activities planned under Phase-II be carefully reviewed to enhance the utility of the archive, and that it be restructured to provide material for course-related vocabulary,'' Mr. Pant stated. He also suggested that India provide assistance to the CLMV countries in the effective use of English, which would help catalyse IT training.

Inviting a person from every ASEAN country to participate in training on analysis and interpretation of

remote-sensing data and in the use of data gathered from the Indian remote-sensing satellites, he said ``India has submitted a detailed proposal to ASEAN and we are awaiting a response from our ASEAN friends. India is keen to begin the cooperation at an early date.

``Space cooperation can also be extended to space science research and development; data transfer for application in areas such as tele-education and tele-medicine, including the usage of VSAT, mini-satellite development, and optical and microwave sensors...'' he said.

According to Mr. Pant, ASEAN and India could also launch joint efforts in the area of tropical medicine, tele- medicine, and for eradication of dengue and cholera. Another area, he said, was epidemiology. ``In closing, I would like to mention that at the political level we should emphasise the need for the maintenance and the continuation of our cooperative efforts so that the cumulative impact of our efforts is felt and seen by our people.

``Only then will there be a sense of ownership of these projects and a willingness to commit their intellectual and physical resources to them. Only then can these projects graduate from the ambit of purely Government-driven initiatives,'' Mr. Pant added.

Speaking in his capacity as India's country coordinator in ASEAN, the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, said India's commitment to deepening ties with ASEAN was evident. He suggested that India make available information about its capabilities in different fields and ``market'' these better so that other countries could make use of them.

The Minister was also pleased at the recent summit- level meeting between India and Pakistan which, he said, was in line with ASEAN's view that a dialogue was necessary to reduce conflict.

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