Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the Philippines for the ASEAN summit, India today said its sensitivities should be addressed in the ongoing negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations.“India has certain sensitivities which must be reflected in the ASEAN FTA,” Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath told reporters on the sidelines of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conclave. Nath would be going to the Philippines before the Prime Minister, to make efforts to iron out a consensus with the ASEAN on the contentious issue of the ‘negative list’.India has offered to prune this list to 490 from 563 as the latest offering to the South East Asian trading bloc. Besides seeking a drastic reduction in the negative list, certain ASEAN members like Vietnam and Indonesia want greater market access for agricultural commodities, including palm oil and pepper.In reply to another question, the Minister said India was negotiating a new trade agreement with Mauritius. “We hope to conclude a new trade agreement with Mauritius in the next few months,” he said. The existing tax treaty between India and Mauritius has come under criticism.The summit and other related meetings, which were put off last month due to inclement weather, are scheduled to be held at the resort island of Cebu from January 10.
