India, ASEAN to hold talks on free trade pact
India and Southeast Asian nations are set to engage each other in complex negotiations on Tuesday to seal a free trade pact before their top leaders meet for summit-level talks later this week.
By PTI |
SINGAPORE: India and Southeast Asian nations are set to engage each other in complex negotiations on Tuesday here to seal a free trade pact before their top leaders meet for summit-level talks later this week.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is leading the high-level Indian delegation for the top summit, is set for wide ranging discussions with the leaders from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) aimed at sorting out FTA issues to bolster the two-way trade which crossed $30 billion in 2006-07.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will hold consultations a day in advance with his counterparts from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei on New Delhi's offers on market access to ASEAN on agriculture products.
Leaders of ASEAN, meeting this week for their annual summit, are due to sign a blueprint for creating a vast single market and production base covering about 570 million people by 2015.
After 40 years of its formation and more than two years of intense negotiations, ASEAN is on the verge of transforming itself into a more effective and rules-based organisation when its leaders ink the historic Asean Charter at their annual summit opening here this week.
The path to the new Asean Charter was not without its problems, senior ASEAN officials said here.
"The different national interests of the 10 different countries had to be reconciled," said Ambassador-atlarge Professor Tommy Koh, a member of a group of senior ASEAN officials responsible for drafting the Charter.
"There were naturally some moments of drama and tension caused partly due to differences of substance and partly due to clashes of personalities," he said here, adding that one of the most contentious issues was whether to set up a human rights body and the form it should take.
"That was a major disagreement," he said, without elaborating.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is leading the high-level Indian delegation for the top summit, is set for wide ranging discussions with the leaders from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) aimed at sorting out FTA issues to bolster the two-way trade which crossed $30 billion in 2006-07.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will hold consultations a day in advance with his counterparts from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei on New Delhi's offers on market access to ASEAN on agriculture products.
Leaders of ASEAN, meeting this week for their annual summit, are due to sign a blueprint for creating a vast single market and production base covering about 570 million people by 2015.
After 40 years of its formation and more than two years of intense negotiations, ASEAN is on the verge of transforming itself into a more effective and rules-based organisation when its leaders ink the historic Asean Charter at their annual summit opening here this week.
The path to the new Asean Charter was not without its problems, senior ASEAN officials said here.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The different national interests of the 10 different countries had to be reconciled," said Ambassador-atlarge Professor Tommy Koh, a member of a group of senior ASEAN officials responsible for drafting the Charter.
"There were naturally some moments of drama and tension caused partly due to differences of substance and partly due to clashes of personalities," he said here, adding that one of the most contentious issues was whether to set up a human rights body and the form it should take.
"That was a major disagreement," he said, without elaborating.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
