1.   

EU Parliament panel may raise FTA issue with Anand Sharma

India-EU free trade agreement is expected to be a major issue that will come up in the meeting between a high-level delegation of European Parliament’s panel on international trade and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. The seven-member delegation is led by Maria Badia, a member of European Parliament. “One of the main areas of interest expressed by the delegation is India-EU free trade agreement. On October 29, they will meet Sharma and likely to discuss the pact,” a commerce ministry official said.

2.   

Indo-Pak officials prepare ground for resuming trade talks

Trade talks between India and Pakistan are likely to get back on track as soon as the political situation normalises. Commerce Ministry officials from both sides met last month informally, to discuss the next steps that could be taken to improve bilateral trade relations when they get the nod from their respective political bosses. Negotiations to normalise trade ties between the two countries launched in January 2011 were suspended early this year following the killing of soldiers at the Line of Control.

3.   

China to boost imports from India: Vice-DG China's Trade

India can expect some pruning of the massive trade deficit it has run up with China as the world's largest exporter is looking to boost its imports, in part to help stimulate economies around the world, said Jia Guoyong, Vice-Director General of China's Trade Development Bureau, told reporter in an interview recently. "China is taking new policy measures to facilitate the importing process. It will further eliminate non-tariff measures, simplify import management measures and shorten import procedures," said Jia Guoyong.

4.   

Drift in India’s Look East policy

World attention has focused on East Asia in the past week with its annual high-level summits. The Indian and Chinese prime ministers were in Brunei among other major leaders, even while presidents Obama and Putin did not show up. The meeting, however, remained an important step for the Asian region. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprising countries in the East Asian region, has increasingly become a major economic regional block. It extended its partnerships with Japan, China and Korea creating the ASEAN plus three formation.