India, ASEAN to hold next round of talks for FTA review Oct 6-7, says govt
This story was originally published at 17:22 IST on 15 September 2025
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025
--Govt: India, ASEAN to hold next round of talks for FTA review Oct 6-7
--Govt: India, New Zealand to conclude 3rd round of FTA talks Sept 19
NEW DELHI – India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will hold the next round of negotiations Oct. 6-7 to review the existing free trade agreement, the commerce ministry said Monday. Both sides concluded the last round of talks in August.
The two sides aim to conclude the review of the agreement by December, the ministry said. India and ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, had in 2023 decided to meet quarterly for negotiations to review the free trade agreement signed in 2009.
The total trade between India and ASEAN has increased substantially since the signing of the trade deal, but primarily on account of imports to India. India's trade deficit with ASEAN, at $45.20 billion in the financial year 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), was more than India's exports of $38.96 billion to the region. India and ASEAN aim to increase the overall trade to $200 billion by the end of 2025 from $123.11 billion in FY25.
India will also conclude the third round of negotiations for a free trade agreement with New Zealand on Friday, the ministry said. The negotiations had restarted in March after 10 years. In 2015, India and New Zealand had halted trade talks because of disagreements over market access and trade priorities. End
US$1 = INR 88.21
Reported by Krity Ambey
Edited by Vandana Hingorani
For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.
Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.
Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000
Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com
© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.
To read more please subscribe
Share this Story:
