Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

News: Recently, India’s Prime Minister participated in an event in Tokyo to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

Significance:
• A US-led initiative that aims to strengthen economic partnership among participating countries to enhance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
• It is a declaration of a collective desire to make the Indo-Pacific region an engine of global economic growth.
• The Indo-Pacific covers half the population of the world and more than 60% of the global GDP and the nations who will join this framework in the future, are signing up to work toward an economic vision that will deliver for all people.
• The framework will focus on integrating partner countries in four areas:
• Trade – It intends to build inclusive, free, and fair trade commitments that advance a broad set of objectives that fuels economic activity and investments.
•Supply Chains – IPEF is committed to improving transparency, diversity, security, and sustainability in supply chains to make them more resilient and well-integrated.
• Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and infrastructure - it plans to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy technologies to decarbonize our economies and build resilience to climate impacts.
• Tax and Anti-Corruption - It is committed to promoting fair competition by enacting and enforcing effective and robust tax, anti-money laundering, and anti-bribery regimes in line with existing multilateral obligations, standards, and agreements to curb tax evasion and corruption in the Indo-Pacific region.

What is India’s vision for Indo-Pacific Region?
• India has been active in championing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. The US, Australia, and the members of the ASEAN have all expressed a common view that India plays a greater role in the region.
• India’s trade in this region is growing rapidly, with overseas investments being directed towards the East, e.g., the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, and the Free Trade Agreements with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and Thailand.
• India’s view is to work with other like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region to cooperatively manage a rules-based multipolar regional order and prevent any single power from dominating the region or its waterways.
• India’s strategic vision for the Indian Ocean i.e. Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) also works in tandem with QUAD’s overall vision for the Indo-Pacific region. Just as QUAD, India through SAGAR mission seeks to deepen economic and security cooperation with its maritime neighbors and assist in building their maritime security capabilities.