India pushes to upgrade ASEAN FTA, advances talks on CECA with Australia

India is actively working with its ASEAN partners to modernize the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), a move aimed at further liberalizing trade between the bloc and New Delhi. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the existing agreement is outdated and no longer reflects the current economic realities of India or the ASEAN member states.

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It's a multilateral agreement, so it requires all ASEAN countries together. We of course discussed with all our ASEAN partners about the importance of upgrading, reviewing the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement, which is a very old agreement and probably does not reflect the structures of the economies either in India or in ASEAN.

Rudrendra Tandon, Secretary (East) at the MEA, explained that the AITIGA review is a multilateral process requiring consensus among all ten ASEAN countries. The goal is to bring about greater trade liberalization, acknowledging that continuous dialogue with significant ASEAN economies is crucial for the review's success. India is also pursuing bilateral upgrades in ties with individual ASEAN nations as part of this ongoing process.

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The review process will try to bring about greater liberalisation on both sides. But mind you, this is a multilateral agreement. So it will be everyone together; we do have continuous conversations with all the significant economies in the ASEAN region, because naturally the negotiations with them will be critical in getting the review process through. But simultaneously, we are also pursuing an upgradation of ties bilaterally, which is, again, a continuous process. So beyond that, one can't say very much, especially when discussing an agreement that requires negotiating with all ten people at the same time.

In parallel, India is making strides in its economic relationship with Australia. Vishwesh Negi, Joint Secretary (Oceania), confirmed that negotiations are progressing on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between the two countries. This follows the signing of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement in 2022, with the current focus on finalizing a balanced and comprehensive CECA.

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As you all are aware, in 2022, India and Australia had signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement. Now the effort on the two sides is to finalise a balanced, comprehensive uh economic cooperation agreement. This is being finalised and negotiated by the Ministry of Commerce.

Both sides are expecting a balanced document to be adopted, and negotiation teams are closely engaged. Further rounds of talks between chief negotiators are anticipated soon. This push for enhanced economic cooperation comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares for a three-nation visit to Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand.

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We are expecting a balanced document to be adopted on both sides, and our teams are closely engaged. We are working with the Ministry of Commerce on that. So the further rounds of negotiations between our chief negotiators are happening soon.