Open AccessBilateral FTAs in South Asia: Recasting the Regionalism Debate
Author(s) -
Dushni Weerakoon
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the lahore journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1811-5446
pISSN - 1811-5438
DOI - 10.35536/lje.2009.v14.isp.a8
Subject(s) - regionalism (politics) , south asia , bilateral trade , pace , regional integration , sri lanka , international trade , development economics , economics , political science , international economics , geography , politics , china , sociology , ethnology , geodesy , law , democracy
The slow pace of progress of the South Asian regional trade integration process under SAARC has prompted many countries to seek bilateral agreements. Sri Lanka is a case in point with bilateral agreements with both India and Pakistan. While the former is acknowledged to have yielded positive results, the latter has remained of limited interest. Given that India remains the single most important trading partner for almost all other South Asian countries, regionalism in South Asia essentially entails bilateral market access to India. The current evidence suggests that India has attempted to do so via a host of bilateral and regional arrangements, but that the emerging nature of that integration process is unlikely to be an ‘inclusive’ South Asian regional grouping.