India-asean Trade

We aim to conclude Asean-India trade deal this year: Malaysian PM

The comprehensive strategic partnership between India and the ASEAN grouping is emerging as a powerful foundation for global stability and growth amid uncertainties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. In a virtual address at the India-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) annual summit, Modi reaffirmed New Delhi's strong support to the grouping's centrality in the Indo-Pacific. ASEAN is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries, including the US, China, Japan and Australia, are its dialogue partners. Malaysia is hosting the annual ASEAN summit and related meetings in Kuala Lumpur in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping. In his remarks, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said there has been "some real progress" in the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and that the grouping wants to conclude it by this year. Modi declared 2026 as the "ASEAN-India year of maritime cooperation".

India bullish on resolving all free trade agreement issues with Asean

Both sides exchange fresh proposals to iron out pending issues; review of 2010 trade pact likely to conclude by year-end as India seeks to narrow trade deficit

India, Asean drift apart as Trump tariffs strain trade ties and trust

Trump might be the immediate cause of this rift, but, as always, China's massive manufacturing overcapacity is at the heart of the problem

India must deepen ties with Asean nations, not abandon its trade agreement

Some within the government, as well as prominent voices in industry, have complained that the FTA with Asean allows for the dumping of Chinese goods in India via Southeast Asia

Govt replaces 'certificate' with 'proof' in Rules of Origin regulations

The amendment, effective from March 18, modifies key rules governing the determination of the country of origin of imported goods - a crucial factor in availing duty benefits under FTAs)

India, Malaysia aim to complete Asean trade pact review by 2025

India and Malaysia have agreed to take steps to speed up the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) for its substantial conclusion by 2025, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday. Malaysia is one of the key members of the 10-member ASEAN and chair of the group for this year. The decision to speed up the review came at the bilateral meeting between Minister of State of Commerce Jitin Prasada and Malaysian Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Liew Chin Tong here. "The meeting discussed the ongoing review of ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and both sides agreed to take necessary steps for speeding up the AITIGA review for its substantial-conclusion by 2025," it said. The agreement came into force in 2010 and the review of the pact was agreed to in 2019 on the demand by India after imports from ASEAN surged and trade balance became heavily in favour of the 10-member grouping. It said both sides also discussed the bilateral trade issues .

27th Asean-India Senior Officials' Meeting reviews strategic partnership

The officials discussed various key issues, including tourism cooperation, trade agreements, digital and maritime connectivity, health partnerships, and innovation and development

Next round of talks for India-Asean FTA in goods review to be held in Feb

The next round of talks for the review meeting of the India-Asean free trade agreement in goods will be held in February next year, an official statement said on Saturday. The fourth round of the negotiations was concluded here this month. The review of AITIGA (Asean India Trade in Goods Agreement) will be a step forward in enhancing trade with the ASEAN region in a sustainable manner, the commerce ministry said. "The next meeting of the AITIGA Joint Committee is scheduled in February 2025 in Jakarta, Indonesia," it said. There are 8 Sub-Committees under the AITIGA Joint Committee to negotiate aspects related to market access, rules of origin, standards and technical regulations, customs procedures, economic and technical cooperation, trade remedies, and legal and institutional provisions. Asean as a group is one of the major trade partners of India with about 11 per cent share in India's global trade. The bilateral trade in 2023-24 was USD 121 billion and reached USD 73 billion

India, Asean collaboration can be key in solving contemporary issues: EAM

India and ASEAN are major demographies and their collaboration can be crucial in tackling contemporary issues, ensuring food and health security and addressing political challenges in the shared region like Myanmar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday. Jaishankar's remarks came as he addressed the Eighth Roundtable of ASEAN-India Network of Think-Tanks Navigating a World in Transition: Agenda for ASEAN-India Cooperation. "India and ASEAN are major demographies whose emerging demands can not only support each other but become larger productive forces in the international economy," Jaishankar, who is here on a day-long visit, said. Together, ASEAN and India account for more than a quarter of the world's population, he said. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. "Our consumer demands and lifestyle choices are themselves major economic

PM Modi announces 10-point plan to strengthen India-Asean partnership

Addressing the 21st India-Asean Summit here, Modi also said he had announced the Act East Policy 10 years ago and in the past decade it had given new energy, direction and momentum

India-Asean FTA talks: Goyal calls for addressing local industry's concerns

India on Friday called for addressing the concerns of its domestic industries affected by the existing free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation bloc ASEAN as the two regions negotiate a review of the pact. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has also emphasized the need to rectify the inequitable tariff liberalization under the agreement. Goyal said this during the stock-taking exercise of the progress of review talks for the India-ASEAN free trade agreement in goods (AITIGA) in Laos. All the ministers took note of the progress in negotiations for the review of the agreement. "Minister Goyal in his intervention stressed the need for addressing injury to industries from the existing FTA and the inequitable tariff liberalisation during the review. He also cited India's ongoing efforts of integrating with other economies through FTAs and highlighted the urgency in upgrading AITIGA which otherwise may lead to diversion of bilateral trade to other regions, the commerce ...

Piyush Goyal to review India-ASEAN trade pact talks' progress in Laos

The progress of talks for the review of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in goods will figure during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Laos, an official statement said on Friday. The two-day visit of Goyal to Vientiane, Laos, started from Friday. He is there to participate in the 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers (AEM-India) meeting and the 12th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM). These annual meetings of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) with their dialogue partners are being hosted by Laos, the ASEAN Chair for this year. "In the AEM-India meeting, the ministers will review the progress in negotiations for review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), the ministry said. The review is high on India's priority to make it more user-friendly, simple and trade facilitative for businesses, it said. It added that Goyal will have a number of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from participating countries o

India fine tuning FTAs with countries to suit domestic industry: Prasada

India is revising FTAs with South Korea, Malaysia and various other ASEAN countries to benefit the domestic industries, Union Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said on Monday. At the 64th annual session of ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association) here, he noted that the free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UK and the European Union are being spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It will play a great role for the auto components industry," the minister said. He further said: "We are also revising and reworking our FTAs with Korea, with Malaysia, with ASEAN countries, which will be fine-tuned to the demands of our industry." Prasada also urged the auto components industry to increase investment in R&D activities. "We are not investing enough in R&D, I believe this is 1 per cent of the revenue that is being invested so this is very crucial," he noted. He also emphasised the importance of boosting exports, reducing import ..

PM Modi's visit to Brunei and Singapore: What is India's Act East Policy?

India's Act East Policy focuses on building ties with Asean countries to promote peace, economic collaboration, and cultural ties while also acting as a counterweight to China's growing influence

Next round of India-Asean trade agreement review talks in November

The next round of talks for the ongoing review meeting of the India-Asean free trade agreement in goods will be held in November, an official statement said on Saturday. The third round of the negotiations was concluded on August 1 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Eight sub-committees have been constituted under the India-Asean Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee for undertaking negotiations on different areas related to the review of the pact. "The next meeting of the AITIGA (Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement) Joint Committee will be held in India from 19-22 November 2024," the Commerce Ministry said. The AITIGA was signed in 2009. In September 2022, both sides tasked the AITIGA Joint Committee to undertake the review to make the agreement more trade-facilitative and mutually beneficial. During the third round of negotiations in Jakarta, Indonesia, all eight Sub- Sub-Committees dealing with national treatment and market access, rules of origin, standards, technical regulations, custom

FTA talks with Japan, Korea, Asean moving slow, India still pursuing: Goyal

The negotiations to review the free trade agreements (FTAs) implemented with Japan, Korea, and Asean are moving slow but India is pursuing those talks, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. He said these agreements were signed and implemented during the UPA regime. These pacts are hurting the domestic industry and almost all firms stated that they are "unfair" agreements, Goyal said. "I am helpless as those agreements (came into effect) before we came to power. I am helpless to change it until we close the negotiations. "We are under re-negotiations but obviously when they (Japan, Korea, Asean) realise that the Congress's agreement was better for them (Japan, Korea, Asean), they are happier to keep that rather than change the agreements... they are going very slow, (but) we are also pursuing," he said while speaking at a CII programme on Viksit Bharat. Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is one of the major trade partners of India, with a share of

Amid maritime disputes, Myanmar crisis, Asean meetings joined by US, China

Top diplomats from Southeast Asia convened Saturday in the Laotian capital with their powerful dialogue partners in the last of the three-day regional talks that have grappled with tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea, escalating fighting in Myanmar, and regional rivalry. Meetings on Saturday will bring together in the same room allies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia to bolster their relationships and discuss key security issues and other regional affairs. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Saturday in Vientiane to meet with the ASEAN foreign ministers. He is also expected to meet on the sidelines with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, as both countries are looking to expand their influence in the region. Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith opened the first meeting of the day with China, Japan and South Korea by saying he hopes the cooperation framework, called ..

Jaishankar, Lavrov exchange views on ways to further boost bilateral ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and leaders from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Laos and others and discussed various aspects of bilateral collaboration, including education and agriculture technology. Jaishankar is in the capital of the Laos People's Democratic Republic to participate in the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He met Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on the sidelines of the meeting. "Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of India Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met on the sidelines of #ASEAN events Vientiane, July 26, 2024 #RussiaIndia #DruzhbaDosti," the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X, attaching a picture of the two ministers. Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with his counterpart from South Korea and had a wide-ranging conversation on Special Strategic Partnership. "A pleasure to meet RoK @FMChoTaeyul today in Vientiane. Wide-ranging

Need for tweak: India for distinct tariff plans with all Asean partners

Round-III of review meet from July 29 in Jakarta

India seeking fair market access ahead of the India-Asean FTA review

India aims to modernise and update the deal to align with current times, considering that the trade agreement was signed over a decade ago