India's proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN took centrestage at the fourth ASEAN-India summit today, with three nations—Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia—raising the issue of the 1,414-item negative list proposed by India.In reply, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured ASEAN leaders that its approach would be ‘‘pragmatic and flexible,’’ said Rajiv Sikri, Secretary East in the Ministry of External Affairs, at a briefing later.An ASEAN statement by its chairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi stressed on this issue. ‘‘ASEAN is concerned on the proposal by India to exclude a substantial portion of trade from the FTA through exclusion of a large number of products from tariff concessions.’’ Urging India to ‘‘positively consider’’ ASEAN’s position, Badawi even went to the extent of linking India’s Look-East policy to this issue.Sikri said that both sides agreed on the need to conclude negotiations on the FTA within the next six months so that it could come into play in 2007. On the eve of the ‘historic’ East Asian Summit, India made it a point to talk about the importance it bestows on ASEAN’s role in the region.‘‘The PM said that India’s relation to ASEAN is central to its Look-East Policy.The PM supports the ASEAN Charter. The development of a vibrant and strong ASEAN community is something we fully support,’’ said Sikri.India has been keen to change the perception that it seeks a collective decision-making process in East Asia. Monday’s ASEAN charter agreed that the EAS should be a ‘‘top-down’’ forum for leaders to exchange views, and that ‘‘the EAS and the ASEAN Plus Three (Japan, China, Korea) process should move on parall el tracks without overlapping and complement one another as well as other regional processes.’’ New Delhi’s offer to Asean
