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Congress Defends ASEAN Trade Pacts After Goyal Calls Them ‘Silly’ and ‘B-Team of China’

Sharma warns that mocking decades-old ASEAN agreements jeopardises a strategic partnership underpinned by more than $120 billion in annual trade

Piyush Goyal Highlights Shift From FTAs With Competitors To FTAs With Partners
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Overview

  • Speaking at the India Global Forum in London on June 19, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal criticised the 2010 ASEAN–India Free Trade Agreement as “silly” and labelled member nations the “B-team of China” for opening Indian markets to competitors and Chinese goods.
  • On June 20, former commerce minister Anand Sharma denounced Goyal’s remarks as “unwarranted, ill-advised and insulting,” noting that Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto was recently the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade.
  • Sharma highlighted that India-ASEAN ties, part of the Look East policy, were negotiated with inbuilt checks and review mechanisms and support essential imports including iron ore, coal, palm oil and pulses.
  • ASEAN is India’s fourth largest trading partner, accounting for over 11 percent of the country’s global trade with bilateral flows exceeding $120 billion and comprising more than 18 percent of FDI inflows since 2000.
  • Goyal defended a pivot in New Delhi’s trade strategy towards developed economies, pointing to ongoing negotiations with Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US and the EU to secure complementary partnerships.