Eight sub-committees directed to accelerate talks as India and ASEAN seek to resolve outstanding issues and improve the trade pact
India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to accelerate negotiations on pending chapters of their trade agreement review, setting time-bound deliverables to address outstanding issues and improve the effectiveness of the pact.
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. According to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the committee directed all eight sub-committees involved in the review to speed up negotiations and coordinate closely to ensure measurable progress towards concluding the exercise.
The next Joint Committee meeting is scheduled to take place in India in January 2027 in a hybrid format. The meeting will assess progress and provide further guidance to support the timely conclusion of negotiations.
Eight Sub-Committees to Advance Negotiations
The Joint Committee’s eight sub-committees cover key areas of the trade agreement review, including Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation (SC-CPTF), Legal and Institutional Issues (SC-LII), National Treatment and Market Access (SC-NTMA), Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SC-SPS), and Rules of Origin (SC-ROO).
The remaining areas are Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures (SC-STRACAP) and Trade Remedies (SC-TR).
Three sub-committees dealing with legal and institutional issues, national treatment and market access, and rules of origin also met alongside the Joint Committee to advance negotiations in their respective areas.
Review Seeks to Address Trade Imbalances
India began seeking a review of AITIGA within five years of the agreement becoming operational in 2010, as imports from ASEAN increased and India struggled to achieve the expected benefits from the pact.
It took four years for India to bring ASEAN around to the need for a review. ASEAN agreed to the review in November 2019, but negotiations did not begin for another two years. The two sides subsequently set a deadline of the end of 2025 to complete the review, but that target was missed.
India sought the review amid concerns that its gains from the agreement were limited while its trade deficit with the ASEAN bloc continued to widen.
The trade deficit increased from $4.98 billion in 2010-11, the first full year of AITIGA’s operation, to $51.54 billion in 2025-26.
Senior Officials Co-Chair Joint Committee Meeting
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. Delegations from ASEAN member states participated in the discussions.
ASEAN remains a major trading partner for India, with bilateral trade spanning electronics, machinery, chemicals, petroleum products, agricultural commodities and other manufactured goods.
The accelerated negotiations and the next Joint Committee meeting in January 2027 are expected to provide the framework for reviewing progress on the outstanding issues and advancing the agreement’s revision.