MANMOHAN`S CABINET OKAYS ASEAN-INDIA FTA

By P.Vijian

NEW DELHI, July 25 (Bernama) -- The Indian cabinet has approved the Free
Trade Agreement (FTA) with Asean despite objections from government and
opposition leaders who claim farmers' livelihoods will be in peril once the
markets are opened.

Shielding resistance from politicians who denounce the trade pact with the
10-member grouping, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, backed by his senior
stalwarts, managed to secure the Cabinet's approval during a late Thursday
night meeting.

"A free trade agreement with Asean is an international political commitment
and is also part of the Look East Policy," the Economic Times quoted Manmohan as
saying during the Cabinet meeting.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Overseas Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi
from the southern state of Kerala where thousands of farmers rely on cash
crops, were among those of had opposed the FTA.

Antony had claimed that the agreement would hurt traditional cash crop
growers like cashewnut, pepper, natural rubber, coir and coconut, in his home
state.

Joining the bandwagon were opposition parties like the Bharatiya Janata
Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Samajwadi Party. They demanded the
government to drop the deal with Asean claiming that millions of Indian farmers
would suffer because of cheap imports.

Nearly 400 million Indian farmers rely on farmland for their livelihoods and
60 percent of the Indian population is still agrarian based.

Pro-FTA ministers even rationalised that India had more to lose if they
backpaddled at this juncture.

India had announced that it would sign the deal during the Asean-India
Summit in Thailand in October, after almost six years of hard bargaining on
both sides.

-- BERNAMA