International - India & World   

India, ASEAN ‘closer’ to free trade agreement

SINGAPORE: India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday made progress towards finalising a free trade agreement (FTA) in respect of goods, as different from services or investments.

The two sides met in Manila, at the level of senior officials, on the sidelines of a series of meetings between the Economic Ministers of the ASEAN and its dialogue partners.

Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai, who led the Indian side in the talks with senior officials from the 10 ASEAN countries, later said over telephone from Manila that the two sides were now “closer” to an agreement. Almost 95 per cent of the way had been covered by now.

Asked whether the ASEAN still made an issue of the Indian tariff line for palm oil as also petroleum and related products, Mr. Pillai said it would not be appropriate to go into specifics at this sensitive stage. He said the two had now arrived at “the last few stages.” And, the “hope” was to “conclude the negotiations before the end of September.”

The two would aim at signing the FTA during the ASEAN-India summit in Singapore later this year, he said in response to a question.

A top ASEAN official, too, indicated that the talks were driven by the timeline of the prospective summit.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Iran deploys smart bombs
Musharraf changes tack on Sharif
U.K. to ignore U.S. pressure
U.S. fears nuclear attack, steps up alert
Green fertilizers to curb pollution
Rising Mediterranean threatens Nile Delta
‘Asian powers can improve regional peace’
India, ASEAN ‘closer’ to free trade agreement

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu