Economic Integration through Free Trade Agreements in South Asia

This book throws light on how systemic-level pressures affect the low level of economic integration in South Asia, and how domestic factors mediate those systemic pressures in the process of free trade agreement (FTA) law making. It argues that understanding systemic factors is essential to explaining the phenomenon of low economic integration in South Asia by paying closer attention to the FTA-making processes of three individual South Asian countries as case studies, which have followed WTO legal principles.

Across nine chapters in three parts, the book first locates South Asia in the international trading system. It then analyses the trade law- making processes, comparing India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, and presents suggestions for a way forward. This book will be of interest to graduates, academics, policymakers, and researchers focused on economic integration, international relations, the WTO, FTAs, international law, and South Asian studies. For researchers, the book presents an innovative theoretical approach to understand FTA law making. It employs Type III Neoclassical Realism (NCR)theory. This model seeks to explain the behaviour of states in the international system by considering both systemic factors (such as power distribution) and domestic variables, including the influence of domestic politics, bureaucratic processes, and leadership beliefs. For the policy makers, especially from the regions with weak economic integration, the book provides practical nuance to make effective trade policies.