ASEAN, India sign free trade deal

Thailand: India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a free-trade agreement Thursday expected to raise annual trade to 60 billion dollars within seven years, officials said.

"The signing today is a good sign of the extended trade between ASEAN and India," said Porntiva Nakasai, commerce minister of Thailand, which holds the 10-member regional bloc's rotating chairman ship.

"The agreement comes at an appropriate time taking into account the current world economic crisis," she said in a statement.

The agreement has been hailed as a milestone following years of tough negotiations between ASEAN and India, its seventh-largest trading partner. It covers billions of dollars in trade and a market of 1.7 billion people.

The signing came ahead of a meeting in Bangkok this weekend of finance ministers from ASEAN and its regional partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Trade between ASEAN and India totaled 47 billion dollars last year but would rise to 60 dollars billion under the pact. AFP