India-ASEAN Trade Talks Focus on AITIGA Review

The 6th ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Joint Committee and related meetings for discussions on the review of the AITIGA were held from 15-22 November 2024 in Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi. The AITIGA Joint Committee met for 2 days from 21-22 November 2024 and the meeting was co-chaired by Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, India, Shri Rajesh Agrawal, and Deputy Secretary General (Trade), Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry, Malaysia, Ms. Mastura Ahmad Mustafa,. The leads and delegates from all 10 ASEAN countries viz. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand & VietNam participated in the meeting.

There are 8 Sub-Committees under the AITIGA Joint Committee to negotiate aspects related to market access, rules of origin, SPS measures, standards and technical regulations, customs procedures, economic and technical cooperation, trade remedies, and legal and institutional provisions. All the 8 Sub-Committees met during this round of negotiations. Among these, 5 Sub-Committees managed to meet physically on the sidelines of the 6th AITIGA Joint Committee meeting.

This round of AITIGA review negotiations was preceded by two high level meetings, 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Meeting in September 2024 and 21st ASEAN-India Summit in October 2024, both in Vientiane, Laos. The Economic Ministers and Prime Ministers/Leaders during both these meetings urged the AITIGA Joint Committee to expedite negotiations and work towards conclusion of review in 2025. During this round of discussions, the Sub-Committees have made good progress in textual discussions and some ground has also been covered towards initiating tariff negotiations.

The visit of ASEAN delegates to New Delhi and their physical presence was utilised by convening bilateral meetings with Thailand and Indonesian teams on the sidelines for discussion on bilateral trade issues. The Indian and ASEAN Chief Negotiators also had a separate meeting to develop a mutual understanding on the issues under discussion and the way forward.

ASEAN as a group is one of the major trade partners of India with about 11% share in India’s global trade. The bilateral trade in 2023-24 was USD 121 Bn and reached USD 73 Bn during April-October 2024 with a 5.2% growth. The review of AITIGA will be a step forward in enhancing trade with the ASEAN region in a sustainable manner. The next meeting of AITIGA Joint Committee is scheduled in February 2025 in Jakarta, Indonesia.