'B team of China': Piyush Goyal calls trade deal with ASEAN a 'silly' move

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on June 19 criticised the previous Congress-led government's decision to enter into a trade agreement with the countries belonging to the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) grouping, terming the move as "silly".

Addressing a Future Frontiers Forum in London, Goyal said, "There was a time 15 years ago when we were more focussed on doing trade agreements with countries who were really our competitors. Why do an ASEAN agreement…which was done 15 years ago before we came into government, it really is silly because I am opening up my market to my competitors."

"Many of whom (ASEAN members) have now become the B team of China, so effectively and indirectly I have opened up my market for goods that find their way from China into India," Goyal said, adding that the current government is therefore focussed on brokering trade deals with developed economies who complement rather than compete with New Delhi.

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which came into effect in 2010, has been criticised by the current Indian government for not adequately addressing the trade imbalance, with imports from ASEAN nations growing faster than India's exports to the region.

The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) is currently under review as New Delhi seeks to balance the gains from the deal.

The commerce minister had last year warned that India may have to take retaliatory measure if ASEAN fails to address the country’s long-standing concerns over non-tariff barriers as part of the ongoing review of the FTA, which ends in 2025.

ASEAN members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The bloc is one of India's major trading partners with a share of about 11 percent in the country's global trade.