Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said India has signed a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN on goods, while it is in the “final stages of concluding an FTA (Free Trade Agreement) on investments and services.
He said the ASEAN Economic Ministers had firmed up the draft of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an agreement between the East Asia countries in August 2012, and the summit would take a view on it.
India will be engaging with ASEAN nations and countries of east Asia at two summits tomorrow and day after in Cambodia. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday arrived at the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to attend the two regional summits.
He said that the global focus has now shifted to Asia and the Pacific region which accounts for three billion of the world's population and 40 percent of the GDP.
Mr Sharma was briefing to accompanying newspersons on board the PM's special aircraft.
To a question on the investment and services agreement, he said the negotiators met during the last two days in Phnom Penh and hoped an early conclusion to the discussions.
The Minister further added that India hopes to conclude it by December when it is hosting the Asean-India Commemorative Summit.
Mr Sharma said that the financial output of two-way trade between India and Asean is $75 billion, with $40 billion from Asean and $35 billion from India.
Anand Sharma said India has a major strategic and cooperative partnership with China and the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Wen Jiabao would cover all issues on Monday.
He said that India has flagged the issue of a fair trade balance and market access for India in IT and pharmaceutical sectors .
AIR Correspondent covering the Prime Ministers visit reports from Phnom Penh that Southeast Asian leaders have begun discussions with a focus on territorial issues, human rights, economic cooperation and ethnic unrest in Myanmar.
The summit opened today in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Leaders of the 10-nation ASEAN bloc are expected to adopt a declaration guaranting human rights protection for the population of the region.
U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with ASEAN leaders on Monday and the day after. He is expected to raise concerns about long-standing human-rights problems.
