ISDS Case Map
India
This article is written in recognizing the numerous opinions floating around in Sri Lanka in respect of the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India. Most of the public discussions and paper articles on CEPA, which we see today, are either based on personal or political sentiments or absolute analysis of numerical figures. The whole purpose of this article is to give a holistic and comparative analysis based on facts and figures explaining the current status of the FTA with India.
The much-awaited free trade agreement with Asean nations is bound to affect import and export of several commodities in India. The first one may be palm oil, which is a major commodity for India as it depends on Malaysia for its edible oil needs.
Allaying fears of the Left-ruled Kerala that an FTA with ASEAN could harm farmers' interest in the southern states, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today said India cannot get isolated in the growing economies of east Asia. "They don't even know what the agreement is," Nath said when asked to comment on Kerala's opposition to the FTA.
ASEAN nations have concluded a deal for free trade in goods with India, the bloc's seventh-largest trading partner, ministers said Thursday.
ASEAN is set this week to finalise a free trade agreement with India and hold talks with Australia and New Zealand, signalling the importance of regional pacts amid fading hopes for a global trading regime.
India and ASEAN have announced that talks on services and investment are set to commence next month ahead of a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) to be signed later this year. This latest step in deepening regional economic integration is further evidence of an ever expanding matrix of competing regional economic interests, which Burma finds itself at the heart of.
Having wrapped up long-drawn negotiations on free trade agreement for merchandise goods with ASEAN, India will push for greater market access for services and investment in the 10-nation Southeast Asian trading bloc.
The proposed trade and investment agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - including Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - is likely to be in place by the middle of next year. Swiss ambassador to India Dominique Dreyer said that the pact will give a big boost to trade and investment between the two sides. Relaxation of business visa norms, however, may not be on the cards as Switzerland would merge its visa system with other Schengen countries by the end of the year and hence will not be able to take decisions independently, the ambassador said.
The Union Cabinet on Friday gave its ex post facto approval for the signing of a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) between India and Syria
India has clinched labour agreements with Malaysia, Oman and Bahrain for protection and welfare of Indian emigrants in these countries.
