INDIAN POLITICIANS OPPOSE ASEAN-INDIA FTA

BY P.Vijian

NEW DELHI, July 24 (Bernama) -- Fearing millions of farmers will suffer,
Indian politicians are vehemently objecting at the eleventh hour to the almost
finalised Asean-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

The objections could derail expansion of two-way trade worth billions of
dollars.

Indian bureaucrats and the government are eager to conclude the
much awaited and much delayed trade deal between Asean and India, Asia's third
largest economy.

But some senior Indian Cabinet Ministers and opposition leaders are
pressuring the government to reconsider the FTA.

Defence Minister A.K. Anthony fears cash crops like cashewnut, coir (the
fiber obtained from the husk of a coconut, used chiefly in making rope and
matting), pepper and rubber, largely grown in his home state of Kerala, would be
affected and wants the government to postpone the signing.

The 10-member Asean and India, the bloc's dialogue partner, plan to sign
the FTA during the Asean-India Summit slated for this October in Thailand.

"The agreement will adversely impact workforce employment in traditional
sectors like coir, marine products, the cashew industry, pepper and natural
rubber," Anthony's was quoted as saying by the Economic Times.

Under the FTA, bilateral trade is expected to multiply manifold, from the
current US$38 billion (RM133 billion), once tariffs on over 4,000 items are
slashed and streamlined.

In the Indian parliament, currently in session, opposition parties like the
Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) and the Sawajwadi Party, are raking up the issue.

On Wednesday, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, who was
attending the Asean Ministerial Meeting in Phuket, said India was ready to sign
the FTA in October.

Asean and Indian trade officials took almost six years to hammer out the
agreement, after leaders from both sides signed the ASEAN-India Framework
Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, at the second ASEAN-India
Summit in 2003.

--BERNAMA