India had to engage Asean urgently or let the trading block forever be under the influence of China. And the prime minister had little time to make his move
On August 10, an Indian expert on trade agreements received a call from the commerce ministry. India was going to sign the long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asia (Asean), a powerful bloc of 10 Asian countries, two months before the October date initially expected.
Some Indian officials say that many Asean members often played hardball to keep India out for a while. “Asean is also not without blame in this regard. They are 10 countries and they took their time to harmonise their position,” says Rajiv Sikri, secretary in the ministry of external affairs between 2004 and 2006.
(This story appears in the 23 October, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)