Despite consistent efforts towards trade and investment normalization, South Asia remains one of the least economically integrated regions in the world. While formal trade in South Asia is abysmally low, informal trade has been a persistent feature of the region and continues to thrive. Analysts...

The year 2018 was a milestone year for India-Bhutan relationship as the countries celebrated the accomplishments of the last fifty years of time-tested and special ties. The mutually beneficial economic ties have been the centre-piece of India-Bhutan relationship. India is Bhutan's largest...

India and Nepal have traditionally shared a unique relationship of friendship and economic cooperation. The relationship is characterized by an open and people-friendly border and is built on shared historical, cultural, linguistic, ethnic links between people residing in India and Nepal. With...

As India seeks to strengthen trade, investment and other forms of economic cooperation with ASEAN, Myanmar is an essential strategic partner, since it is the only ASEAN nation with which India shares both land and maritime borders. As a "gateway" to South East Asia, Myanmar is also vital in...

Trade facilitation measures improve the trading environment by reducing transaction costs and thereby increasing the gains from trade. Although the use of trade facilitation measures for tackling trade bottlenecks has gained traction in recent times, one aspect which remains largely unexplored...

Despite an uncertain political relationship, and tensions between India and Pakistan, healthcare is a sector for trade that has the potential to grow. It is a soft sector, offering a win-win situation for both countries as producers will get a larger market for their products while consumers...

The study suggests an approach to reduce India’s sensitive list under SAFTA. The concept of Revealed Comparative Advantage has been used to pair the RCAs for products on India’s sensitive list with the corresponding RCAs of the SAARC countries. Four categories of items are generated based on...

India and Sri Lanka are in the process of negotiating Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. In this context, the study shows that since there has been an increase in services trade between the two countries, the inclusion of services in the agreement (CEPA) would give an impetus to...

The study is based on an extensive survey carried out in the Indian cities of Chennai, Trichy, Thiruvananthapuram, Tuticorin, Mumbai and Rameshwaram. Informal trade between India and Sri Lanka is largely a one way trade from India to Sri Lanka and is almost a third of the total value of trade...