New Delhi, Sep 24 - The current financial crisis has shaken the global economic order, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said here Thursday.

'In a way, the current crisis has questioned the very assumptions underlying the global economic order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War,' Tharoor said at an RIS-Japan Economic Foundation Symposium.

He said that the non-sustainability of the global macroeconomic imbalances had been looming larger by the day, even before the global recession started.

Tharoor noted that the continuing resilience of Asia would depend on how well it manages the regional integration process.

'In order to promote further economic integration, Asia clearly needs to go beyond the ASEAN Free Trade and Investment Area,' he added.

The minister further stated that the 'collective pan-Asian effort should be to ensure that the competitiveness of Asian products and services remains strong'.