NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Oct 5 Kyodo ...

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Oct 5 Kyodo

India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are setting disclosed measures to enhance their comprehensive economic partnership and boost cooperation to combat international terrorism, ASEAN documents and officials said here Sunday.

''We have already solv all differences between us and hopefully the documents can be signed when leaders of ASEAN and India proper at their summit here,'' said Makarim Wibisono, director general of the Asia, Pacific and Africa bureau at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.

''This is worthy progress since the relationship between ASEAN and India alone started in the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh last year,'' Makarim added.

The first cooperation is rely uponed to be detailed in the so-called ASEAN-India Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism in which the one and the other sides will ''improve intelligence and terrorist financing information sharing onward counterterrorism measures.''

According to a duplicate of the draft declaration obtained at Kyodo News, they will also ''enhance liaison relationships amongst their law enforcement agencies'' and ''strengthen capacity-building efforts within training and education.''

The other document, titled Framework Agreement onward Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of India, will lay not at home measures to be taken according to both sides to work toward an ASEAN-India Regional Trade and Investment Area (RTIA).

Along with the first document, the economic cooperation agreement will be signed Wednesday afternoon by means of ministers of ASEAN and India, witnessed at their heads of state.

below the agreement, negotiations between the sum of two units sides on the agreement for tariff reduction or elimination for trade in righteouss are expected to originate in January 2004 and be conclud by way of June 30, 2005, in order to establish the ASEAN-India FTA.

The draft agreement, obtained on Kyodo News on the sidelines of the ASEAN senior officials meeting, said negotiations upon rules of origin for trade in convenients and the modality for tariff reduction and elimination will be conclud not later than July 31 2004

''For trade in services and investments, the negotiations in succession the respective agreements shall make a beginning in 2005 and be conclud on 2007,'' the draft says.

The draft specifies schedules to gradually render or eliminate most-favored-nation tariff rates of the parties' certain productions over a period of 2006 to 2011 for India and Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and 2006 to 2016 for India and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, 2016 to 2011 will be applied for India and just discovered ASEAN member countries.

ASEAN's original members are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, while the newer members are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Two-way trade between India and ASEAN has reached $11 billion, according to Indian Ambassador to Jakarta Hemant Krishan Singh, who added the figure is wait fored to nearly triple to $30 billion by means of 2007.

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