India-ASEAN trade touches $128 billion as both sides push to upgrade free trade pact

Bilateral trade between India and ASEAN reached $128 billion during 2025–26, reflecting the strong economic partnership between the two sides and providing further opportunities to expand trade and investment cooperation, an official statement said on July 8.

ASEAN remains one of India's key trading partners, accounting for around 11 per cent of India's global trade, according to a statement by Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

To further strengthen the relationship, India is hosting the 13th ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Joint Committee (JC) and related meetings from July 6-10, to review the progress of negotiations under the AITIGA Review.

According to an official statement, the Joint Committee meeting provided strategic guidance to the Sub-Committees in their respective areas of work and urged them to expedite the finalisation of the outstanding chapters under the AITIGA Review.

“To maintain the momentum of negotiations, the Sub-Committees were assigned time-bound deliverables and encouraged to work closely towards achieving tangible outcomes within the agreed timelines,” said the statement.

The statement further said that meetings of three of the eight Sub-Committees under the AITIGA Joint Committee are currently being held on the sidelines of the 13th Joint Committee meeting.

These include the Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation (SC-CPTF), the Sub-Committee on National Treatment and Market Access (SC-NTMA), and the Sub-Committee on Rules of Origin (SC-ROO).

The ministry said that the meetings are serving as an important platform to deepen cooperation, strengthen mutual understanding and advance constructive dialogue between India and ASEAN.

The 13th AITIGA Joint Committee meeting was co-chaired by Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce Nitin Kumar Yadav, and Deputy Secretary General (Trade), Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Malaysia, Mastura Ahmad Mustafa.

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