The Indo-Asean FTA provides an opportunity to be more engaged with the region This is an important week for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Over the weekend, at the Fourth East Asia Summit in Thailand, he will witness the final fruition of the second most important foreign policy initiative he took during his first term in office — the India-Asean Free Trade Agreement. This should ensure he will be in better...

The controversy over signing the India-ASEAN FTA has not dampened the enthusiasm of the UPA government for pursuing free trade agreements with other countries. Apart from the trade negotiations with the EU, the government is juggling with the possibility of entering into free trade agreements with quite a few countries and groupings. At present India is looking at the possibility of entering into FTA negotiations with Australia. Moving fast, a...

The bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) India is negotiating with Japan and the European Union (EU) can lead to a sharp rise in the cost of medicines, a network of civil society groups has warned. The FTAs are discussed outside the parameters of equitable international trade endorsed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Through them, developed countries often impose higher levels of intellectual property protection for medicines than those mandated...

Southern Kerala state is known for the lush expanses of cardamom, pepper, tea and rubber that grow on its misty hills, and the bountiful catches of fish on a coastline punctuated by lagoons and backwaters. But a cloud in the form of a a free trade deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc hovers over this picture of plenty. With the Indo-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) now...