As the India-Asian free trade agreement (FTA) has to be finalized by June 2006, the ministry of commerce has the Herculean task of operational out the details, counting identification of key exports & imports and the rates of responsibility to be offered for promoting two-sided trade flanked by the countries involved. There are also complex negotiating issues on rules of origin and value addition, apart from negative lists.
The India-Asian FTA must have come earlier. The economic association, in the light of our historic commercial ties and geographical nearness, has gained momentum since the nighttimes, when we opened our economy. Since 1993, India has been productively pursuing a ‘Look East’ policy to enhance economic cooperation with its neighbors in the East.
India’s ‘Look East’ policy has ongoing bearing fruits and the economy is harvesting handsome dividends. Asia, exclusive of the Middle East, accounts for 32% of our global exports, while the share of imports is 24%. In the last five years, India’s exports to Asian contain increased by over 280%. Imports from Asian have augmented by around 220%.