ISAS Briefs

India's current trade negotiations have three agreements as top priorities. Two of these " the India-ASEAN services agreement and the bilateral trade and investment agreement with the European Union (EU) " are at advanced stages. The India-ASEAN services agreement is a 'done' deal and should be signed soon unless unexpected difficulties emerge. Discussions on the EU-India agreement that were stalled last year should also commence soon. Despite being discussed for more than five years, both sides are yet to reach consensus on greater market access in services, liberalisation of government procurement markets, management of intellectual property and tariffs on automobiles. The new Indian government, hopefully, will resume negotiations with the objective of concluding them early. Finally, the third agreement, where India needs to participate constructively in the ongoing negotiations, is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).