India ready to sign FTA with Asean: PM

Countries have equal stakes in the security and prosperity of the shared Asian neighbourhood, says Singh

Eyeing greater cooperation with South East Asian countries on economic and security issues, India today announced a separate Mission for ASEAN region to be set up in Jakarta with a full-time resident Ambassador.

Addressing the 11th ASEAN-India Summit here, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said that India was ready to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN on services and investment to boost their bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2015, from $76 billion last year.

Singh said over the last two decades, India and ASEAN have established a comprehensive agenda of cooperation and a wide-ranging framework to pursue it.

"Today, we stand on the threshold of the third decade of our engagement. In keeping with our substantial achievements, the recent elevation of our ties to a strategic partnership and the rich potential of our cooperation, I feel it would be appropriate for me to take this opportunity to announce that India will soon set up a separate Mission to the ASEAN in Jakarta with a full time resident Ambassador," he added.

The secretariat for ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), a ten-member block of countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is based in Jakarta.

Singh said that all the "countries have equal stakes in the security and prosperity of our shared Asian neighbourhood.

"The global economic crisis and turmoil in different parts of the world underscore the salience of our robust partnership. The scope of India's engagement with East and Southeast Asia has grown steadily in the last two decades.

"We seek to promote not only mutually beneficial bilateral relations, but also to work institutionally with regional partners and foster a climate that is conducive to stability, security and economic development in our region," he added.

The Prime Minister said that ASEAN has paved way for a great level of "cooperation and integration, not only among themselves, but also in the broader region.

"For India, it is an article of faith of our Look-East policy that ASEAN must remain central to the future evolution of regional mechanisms, which must be open and inclusive. We share your vision and aspirations for the region and we applaud your march towards an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015," he added.

About progress on relations between India and ASEAN, Singh said that "India stands ready for the signature of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement on Services and Investment by the end of this year and its early implementation.

"This will complement our Agreement on Goods and bolster our economic partnership," he said, while adding that initiatives have also been taken by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to revitalise the ASEAN-India Business Council and to set up an ASEAN-India Trade and Investment Centre.