India, ASEAN and the Quad
Amita BATRA, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
The geography of the Indo Pacific remains fluid. The strategic dimension has, however, been developed through the four-member Quad. More significantly, the Quad has, during the pandemic, announced some concrete economic initiatives, specifically for supply chain resilience. These include the SCRI (Supply Chain Resilience Initiative) among three of its members that was announced in September, 2020 and a (...)

ASEAN Community Amidst Post-COVID Indo-Pacific Conflict
Piti SRISANGNAM, ASEAN Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
The year 2021 is when Global Value Chains (GVCs) are at their lowest point. Many believe the GVC will fully recover to the volume of 18 trillion USD again in 2023. International trade advantages through the new trade negotiations is what everyone wants in order to gain the better integration momentum from this GVCs recovery. Unfortunately, the conflict of the (...)

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Session 5 / Asia’s Post-Pandemic Integration : What the Indo-Pacific Should Stand for ?
Chair : Prof. Suthiphand CHIRATHIVAT, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
The session will present and discuss challenging times of Asian integration caused by erosion of global economic order, lingering pandemic crisis and possible recovery, unpredictable trade frictions of major powers, and upcoming regionwide trade agreements of RCEP and CPTPP. The Indo-Pacific has added another (...)

Between the Two Seas of Indo-Pacific : From Kra Isthmus to Thai Canal and Landbridge in Southern Thailand
Suthiphand CHIRATHIVAT and Charit TINGSABADH, ASEAN Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
Recent regional strategic changes have generated an exceptional relooking of two seas’ linkages of Indo-Pacific, in conjunction with the revival of Kra Isthmus in Southern Thailand. The issue is not new as it is the narrowest part of Malay-Thai peninsular and could represent the most (...)

Digital Connectivity in ASEAN : Opportunities and Challenges
Sineenat SERMCHEEP, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University
Digital connectivity is a crucial component for ASEAN’s post-pandemic recovery and competitiveness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many economies and industrial sectors have accelerated the adoption of digitalization to respond to the pandemic and to mitigate its effect. Improving digital connectivity helps to enhance the regional digital transition. It is also a (...)

Cross-Border Electricity Trade and Climate Stabilization : Key Policy, Regulatory and Market Challenges in South and Southeast Asia
Venkatachalam ANBUMOZHI, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta
Recognising the various benefits of Cross Border Electricity Trade (CBET) for meeting energy security and climate stabilization, both ASEAN and SAARC member states formulated directions. As the political climate is becoming increasing more conducive for CBET, the (...)

Asia’s Post-Pandemic Order and Regional Integration : ASEAN Perspectives
Anupama DEVENDRAKUMAR, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, VinUniversity, Vietnam
The Covid-19 pandemic is raising difficult political-economic, socio-cultural, institutional questions. The ongoing impact of the pandemic has not only questioned the integration processes but also has laid bare the loopholes in them. The leaders, scholars, academia, businesses, and the public are divided on the future of integration and the (...)

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Session 6 / ASEAN amidst Competing Connectivity Strategies and Integration Challenges
Chair : Prof. Prabir DE, ASEAN-India Centre (AIC), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)
ASEAN is still far from clear that new geopolitical changing landscape and implications from major power rivalries will turn out to be positive for the future of region building. The prime objective of the Indo-Pacific is often seen as focussed on the security issue, and not (...)

Divide and Rule : China’s Responses to the various Indo-Pacific Initiatives
Jean-Pierre CABESTAN, Department of Government and International Studies, Faculty of Social Science, Hong Kong Baptist University
This paper focus on China’s responses to the various Indo-Pacific initiatives that have been made public since Shinzo Abe coined the very idea of Indo-Pacific in 2016 and how these responses have impacted on China-ASEAN relations. Actually, it is China’s rise and, in 2013, Xi Jinping’s (...)

Security issues and strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific
Vice Admiral Pradeep CHAUHAN, Director-General of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), New Delhi
The “Indo-Pacific” has been gaining new geopolitical construct over the last few years. There is also a growing consensus in understanding the geographical scope and economic and strategic approaches towards Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific obtained renewed vibrancy when ASEAN, in June 2019, and India, in November 2019, came out with (...)