The India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in Bangkok on 13 August 2009. The signing took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting. The agreement, which only deals with trade in goods, is India’s first FTA with a trade bloc.

Several concerns also come to the fore with regard to the FTA.  Is it really a good strategy to trade future gains for present costs, especially when those who bear the burden in the present are not likely to be beneficiaries of the gains that may accrue some time in the future? The state’s role assumes importance in this respect. It is for the state to redistribute these inter-temporal gains in a manner that ensures that nobody is a loser as a consequence of the FTA in the long run. Will the Indian state be able to do this, and is there any evidence of progress in this area?

CONTENTS
Introduction
FTA: Prolonged Interactions
FTA in/and India's Lookeast Policy
China Factor
Conclusions: Towards Regional Integration

RELATED SEARP PUBLICATIONS

Article #2964, 7 September 2009
India-ASEAN FTA: The Road Ahead
AN Ram, Former Ambassador of India to Thailand
http://www.ipcs.org/article_details.php?articleNo=2964

#2956, 24 August 2009
The India-ASEAN FTA: An assessment
Tuli Sinha, Research Officer,SEARP, IPCS
http://www.ipcs.org/article_details.php?articleNo=2956

India-ASEAN FTA: The Road Ahead
Conference Report
http://www.ipcs.org/publications_special_details.php?recNo=293&pT=4