India, Asean To Finalise Talks On FTA By Asean Summit In Dec

From Nor Baizura Basri NEW DELHI, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- India is on track to finalise discussions with Asean member countries on the India-Asean Free Trade Agreement before the Asean Summit this year, in a move which will boost greater economic and political stability between the two entities. Arun K. Goel, the joint secretary of Southeast Asia in India's Ministry of External Affairs said the focus is on finalising talks with the grouping as soon as possible. "We have been keenly pursuing finalisation of the India-Asean FTA and after a great deal of effort, the first part of the agreement, that is on trade and goods, was agreed to by all ten countries in July last year. "Now, our emphasis is on the second and third parts, which focuses on investment and services. We hope to finalise this before the end of the Asean summit," he added. He was speaking at a meeting on Monday with a group of Asean journalists, visiting India, as part of the journalist exchange programme between India and Asean countries. Last November, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, had pushed for a March 2012 deadline to conclude the FTA. The economic pact, would further boost trade between India and Asean, to likely reach US$70 billion this year. In 2010, trade between the India and Asean grew 30 per cent and touched US$50 billion. Meanwhile, India's Minister of External Affairs S.M Krishna, who was also present at the meeting, said the country saw the importance of Asean and was looking forward to strengthening cooperation in the economic and political arena with all 10 member nations. He said India planned to spend US$1 trillion on infrastructure development in the country over the next decade. "We are ready to sit down with our Asean counterparts who are interested in joining and developing the infrastructure industry in India by providing the necessary assistance," he added. The inaugural Asean-Media Exchange Programme to India involves about 20 journalists from 10 Asean countries. The programme also commemorates the 20th anniversary of India being Asean's dialogue partner. The week-long programme includes the Delhi Dialogue, a two-day forum, which began Monday, and tracks the past and present relationship between India and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as a precursor to the commemorative year. -- BERNAMA