Framework for free-trade by this year: India
PTI | May 30, 2013
PM IN THAILAND
Framework for free-trade by this year: India
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, on a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with his Thai counterpart Yingluck Shinawatra to outline the framework of a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement and elevate bilateral ties into a "strategic partnership".
Singh arrived after ending his three-day visit to Tokyo. A high-level delegation also accompanying him on the trip to reinforce India’s "Look East" policy, recognising Thailand as a key gateway to the ASEAN region and seeking to elevate bilateral ties into a "strategic partnership".
"During the visit, the two sides will outline the framework of a Thailand-India comprehensive free-trade agreement to reach a conclusion, perhaps by this year," Indian ambassador to Thailand Anil Wadhwa said.
An early harvest scheme of the free-trade agreement, with tariff exemption for 84 items of goods, has been in force since January 2010, resulting in a high-level of bilateral trade. Two-way trade between the two countries reached USD 9.2 billion in 2012-13.
Singh’s visit to Thailand will be the first by an Indian premier after the 2004 visit by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
