This article addresses the imperative of food security in India in the context of persistent prevalence of malnutrition despite several years of rapid growth. In particular, the article posits that the recent promulgation of the National Food Security Act in September 2014 to meet this challenge also offers an opportunity to reconfigure its food distribution system and agricultural trade policy. These two issues pose the greatest and most immediate challenges for India.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) centrality was one of the biggest motivations for ASEAN’s proposal of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2011. In order to gain both politically and economically, ASEAN should play proactive roles in the RCEP negotiation as the driver of substance. ASEAN has already started exercising its influence over the substances of ASEAN + 1 free trade agreements (FTAs). In order to further strengthen its leadership in the RCEP, ASEAN should utilise the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as the model for RCEP.