Introduction

This century has witnessed a new global economic order unfold, with the balance of global growth shifting from the developed countries of the West to the emerging countries of the East. The 2008 global financial crisis and subsequent global economic recession further accelerated this historical shift. This sparked a divergence of economic performance between the West and the emerging East. Crippled with financial worries, the developed countries of the West resorted to restrictions on competitive markets and other protectionist measures; but emerging countries of the East consolidated their synergies and complementarities to further strengthen their newfound economic power in the emerging global order. While domestic crisis intervention strategies in the West may lead to ‘deglobalisation’ due to economic conservatism, the economic dynamism and long-term growth fundamentals of the East will reaffirm the process of ‘reglobalisation’.

This transition is particularly evident in globalizing Asia, where the growth of Asian sub-regions are increasingly becoming mutually reinforcing, paving the way for a new geo-economic force that is reshaping the global economic order. There is a proliferation of shallow and deep economic integration among countries and subregions within Asia in the ambit of WTO+ open regionalism framework. Currently, though dispersed, there is a virtual Asian Economic Community (AEC) which can be mapped from the numerous Preferential Trading Agreements (PTAs) in the form of bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Regional Trading Agreements (RTAs), Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs), and Framework Agreement for Economic Cooperation (FAECs) in operation at various levels both in scope and dimension. Parallel to this geoeconomic convergence, Asian countries in general, and India and the Gulf countries in particular, have intensified political cooperation in line with the emerging security and strategic impulses in the region. While these geoeconomic and geopolitical inclinations are begging for a concrete shape, a lack of institutional framework and the slow pace of negotiations have resulted in a sub-optimal outcome and created a sense of confusion for India and the GCC, as well as other Asian powers. Therefore, it is highly imperative to strive towards a pan-regional cooperative paradigm in Asia to consolidate the geoeconomic synergies and develop geopolitical convergence for a win-win outcome. In this regard, India and the GCC’s continued thrust on institutionalizing economic and political relations could be a stepping stone for a pan-Asian cooperative paradigm.