The Planning Commission for trade agreement with China

BEIJING: The Planning Commission is pushing for a regional trade agreement with China on the lines of a similar deal that New Delhi has signed with Asean. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Commission deputy chairman, is also in favour of a more liberal approach to border trade between India and China. Ahluwalia’s remarks made at the end of his two-day tour of China, gives a boost to Beijing’s demand for expanding the border trade at Nathu La Pass on Sikkim border. The Indian government has been cautious about the number of items traded and nature of trade in view of fears by a section of Indian industry that the country would be flooded by low-priced Chinese goods. "I am in favour of generally multilaterally liberalising trade and I think the rest of the world is moving towards doing that in a parallel track. We have a regional trade agreement with Asean. I think we should have a similar agreement with China, details, of course, will have to be worked out," he said. He felt a lot of Chinese goods was already available in India and discerning Indian consumers have firmed up their minds about what to buy. There was no need to worry about Chinese goods flooding Indian market. "There are details that have to be worked out on both sides," he said.