The de facto creation of an Asian economic community appears to be already in the works though what is critically needed is political will and a real sense of community and commonality in east Asia. Three strategic models for more intensified economic and monetary cooperation between ASEAN+3 and India are presented in this paper. Either an intertwining web of free trade agreements consolidating an ASEAN+3 FTA, or a Japanese investment-led model, or a China/India inspired east Asian growth and consolidation model could be used to effectively integrate the region, though unlike Europe, the model would be more functional than institutional.
