The Need for Economic Integration

Abstract

South Asia inherited a shared identity, a shared infrastructure and institutions of governance, which were fractured by politics. There are now new opportunities that point to the possibility and necessity of reclaiming some of that inheritance. India's economy is now large enough to be welcomed by the various groupings in Asia as partner; while Asia is going to be, or already is, the new global growth centre. So South Asia must integrate in order to be part of this new dynamism, integrate its capital markets, its labour markets, its transport and other infrastructure, and take advantage of the new emerging opportunities for cooperation with West Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia.