. India & ASEAN for early FTA

Political and security cooperation in the region will be discussed at the meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Thursday, against the backdrop of changing security architecture in SouthEast Asia.  India and ten-nation ASEAN on Wednesday pushed for early conclusion of a bilateral FTA in services and investment and expansion of their trade and economic ties as they reviewed the entire canvas of their relationship, including cooperation in the maritime security in the region.  Addressing the annual ASEAN-India Ministerial meeting in the Cambodian capital, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna highlighted the need to swiftly conclude the free trade agreement in services and investment and expansion of communication links with the member States of the ASEAN considered one of the world's fastest growing regions.  "We believe that the early conclusion of the ASEAN-India Services and Investment Agreements would give a strong fillip to our economic engagement," he told the annual meeting attended by Foreign Ministers and top officials of the ASEAN countries.  India and the ASEAN have already implemented a free trade agreement in goods and are engaged in intense negotiations to widen its base and include services and investments.  ASEAN member nations comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam also favoured finalising the FTA as soon as possible, saying it would further enhance cooperation in trade and commerce.  "All the member countries agreed that a full-fledged pact will further fuel trade and commerce between ASEAN nations and India," sources said.  In his address, Krishna said India views Asia as a global engine of growth and would like to expand cooperation with ASEAN as it is a driving force of economy of the region.  Issues relating to maritime security also came up for discussion in the meeting.  "The story of economic growth in our partnership is meeting expectations despite the global economic downturn. Two-way trade between ASEAN and India in 2011-12 reached USD 80 billion," Krishna said.  The India-ASEAN Trade in Goods (TIG) Agreement was signed in August 2010 after six years of negotiations and it came into force on January 1 last year.  Services and Investments could not be included in that free trade agreement as the two sides failed to reconcile their differences in time and it was decided to have a separate pact on these sectors.  "India's relationship with ASEAN is a key cornerstone of our foreign policy and the foundation of our Look East Policy. We have attempted to anchor this within the larger context of Asia as an engine for global growth and prosperity," Krishna said.  A number of ASEAN Foreign Ministers also appreciated India's efforts in setting up of the Nalanda University.  Seeking expansion of the ties, Krishna said a number of project proposals are being finalised between ASEAN and India through the ASEAN Secretariat, reflecting the "earnest desire" of the two sides to deepen the engagement in diverse sectors.  "Geographic, institutional and people-to-people connectivity, e-linkages, capacity building across sectors, cooperation in frontier areas like space technology, agriculture, energy, environment and biodiversity are some of the areas that I would suggest for particular attention in the months ahead," he said.  The ASEAN leaders also discussed the trilateral highway connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand.  Later it is proposed to be linked to Vietnam