India to set up separate ASEAN mission; FTA by year-end: PM

Eyeing greater cooperation with south east Asian countries on economic and security issues, India on Thursday announced a separate mission for ASEAN region to be set up in Jakarta with a full-time resident ambassador.

Addressing the 11th ASEAN-India summit here, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said that India was ready to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN on services and investment to boost their bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2015, from USD 76 billion last year.
"Today, we stand on the threshold of the third decade of our engagement. In keeping with our substantial achievements, the recent elevation of our ties to a strategic partnership and the rich potential of our cooperation, I feel it would be appropriate for me to take this opportunity to announce that India will soon set up a separate mission to the ASEAN in Jakarta with a full time resident ambassador," he added.

The secretariat for ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), a ten-member block of countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is based in Jakarta.

"This will complement our Agreement on Goods and bolster our economic partnership," he said, while adding that initiatives have also been taken by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( FICCI) to revitalize the ASEAN-India Business Council and to set up an ASEAN-India Trade and Investment Centre.