India, Asean expect 'some conclusion' in FTA review by October-end

Both sides are also discussing matters pertaining to technical cooperation, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and technical barriers to trade collaborations

India and the 10-member block of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are expecting to arrive at “some kind of conclusion” in the ongoing negotiations to review the decade-old trade pact between the two sides by the end of October.

 

“We are engaged in the negotiations. Nine rounds of talks have been concluded so far...The progress so far has been chequered, it is not (what we could have been) like, but the good part is that we are moving on many aspects, especially on customs and trade facilitation,” commerce department special secretary Rajesh Agrawal told reporters on Tuesday. 

Both sides