India and ASEAN agree to expedite AITIGA trade agreement review with time-bound targets

Key facts

• India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to expedite negotiations on the review of pending chapters of their trade agreement, setting time-bound deliverables for negotiating groups.
• The decision was taken at the 15th meeting of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Joint Committee, held in Jakarta from October 6 to 9.
• The committee directed all eight sub-committees working on the review to accelerate negotiations, covering Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Legal and Institutional Issues, National Treatment and Market Access, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, Rules of Origin, standards and technical regulations, and trade remedies.
• The next Joint Committee meeting will be held in India in January 2027 in a hybrid format to assess progress.
• The meeting was co-chaired by Nitin Kumar Yadav, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, and Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, Deputy Secretary General (Trade) at Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry.
• ASEAN agreed to the review in November 2019, and the previous deadline of end-2025 to complete the review was missed.
• India's trade deficit with ASEAN widened from $4.98 billion in 2010-11 to $51.54 billion in 2025-26, prompting the review of the goods trade pact operational since 2010.