India-ASEAN free trade agreement ill-conceived: Piyush Goyal

India's trade deficit with ASEAN has jumped to over 70% last year

The India-ASEAN FTA was described as 'most ill-conceived' and unfair to the domestic industry by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. He stated, 'The ASEAN agreement is an extremely unfair deal for Indian industry. While India opened its markets to Japan and Korea under FTAs, they did not reciprocate by allowing Indian exports to their countries.'

According to the minister, India's exports to Japan have remained stagnant, with no growth over the years, while imports from Japan have surged by 200 per cent. 'What India's exports to Japan were 10 years ago, it remains the same today,' he added.

Minister Goyal also criticized the previous government for not conducting enough stakeholder meetings and engagements. He believes that if they had involved the industry and understood their concerns, the situation today would not be one where India has to request renegotiations of the FTA to achieve a more balanced, fair, and equitable agreement.

As per commerce ministry data, India's exports to Japan declined from $6.17 billion in 2021-22 to $5.46 billion in 2022-23.

The minister emphasized that the Modi government had engaged in a series of consultations with industry and stakeholders regarding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and had ultimately decided to opt out of the pact as it was not deemed beneficial for India's interests.