With the rise of Indian and Chinese economies, the old Asian security architecture is changing very fast. Many regional and international players are becoming very active to control the power strings in the Asian region. Regionally India, China, and Japan are competing for the dominant role in their respective regions. Internationally both the US and Russia are very strong contenders to keep their presence felt in the region. There are also many small nations with rich natural resources, strong economies and nuclear resources that have the power to change the balance in the region who are becoming very active in the region. Thus the nature of the power struggle is becoming multi dimensional in nature. For the first time in a very long time no one power is calling the shots in the region.

Along with the security architecture, economic profile of the region is also changing very fast. Today Northeast Asia, (including China, Japan, North and South Korea, the Soviet Far East, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) constitutes the largest economic zone in the world in terms of population, natural resources, and potential market size, as well as its vast trade and investment opportunities. It is one of the most economically dynamic areas of the world due to the phenomenal economic growth of the region's market economies, and more recently, that of China. Because of this economic rise, the region is getting attraction from countries from all over the world.

Diplomatic and political structure of the region is also changing very fast. Most of the political and diplomatic obstacles which held this region back during the Cold War are disappearing one by one. For example, South and North Korea having been one of the biggest sources of tension are now cooperating more closely than ever before economically and politically, thus enhancing prospects for peace and rapprochement in the region. Pyongyang initiated talks with Japan for the long overdue normalization of relations, which also promoted economic exchanges between North Korea and the rest of the countries in the region.

Today the institutional transformation toward a market economy is making rapid progress in China and to some extent in Russia. There is a growing realization that promotion of economic exchange and cooperation itself provides better opportunities for resolving political questions between the parties involved. It therefore behooves all countries in the region to seize this opportunity to create a new order of economic cooperation in Northeast Asia on the basis of mutual respect and reconciliation

Dr. Lakhvinder Singh is senior research fellow at Institute of Far Eastern Studies In Seoul.