Asean officials who participated have expressed disappointment at India's negative approach to the idea that the import of all items, except those on a prohibited list, should be duty-free. New Delhi merely agreed to cut the sensitive list by a few items, while retaining more than 900 protected products.

India, however, said it had tried to cut the negative list in an attempt to advance the negotiations with Asean.

"There is very little possibility of wrapping up the Asean-India FTA by this year or next, as scheduled. India has not shown its commitment to an open market," said Chana Kanaratanadilok, deputy director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department.

The Asean-India ministerial meeting to be held late this year will decide whether to hold further bilateral talks.

However, India may prefer to conclude a bilateral free-trade pact direct with Thailand. Chana said New Delhi had sent an official letter to Thailand, asking for another round of FTA talks.

"India fears losing its connections with Asean countries, so it wants to build close ties with Thailand and other members," he said.

Due to the Kingdom's political vacuum, Thai negotiators have to wait for a mandate to continue bilateral negotiations not only with India but also with other trading partners.

India has concluded a bilateral pact with Singapore, and is conducting similar negotiations with Thailand and Malaysia.

However, Chana said it was likely India would try to wrap up the agreement with Thailand before the one with Malaysia, as it has only just started talks with Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, Chana said the Thailand-Bahrain FTA talks had been suspended.

Although the two countries have already reached a final agreement, Bahrain has said it cannot sign the pact, as it is not allowed by fellow Gulf members to seal the deal.

Bahrain is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council and says it can only sign the deal if all council members agree. The other members are the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain has only one bilateral pact, with the United States. This is because the US is planning to conduct bilateral talks with all the council members.

In a separate development, senior officials from BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation forum) will convene at a two-day meeting in Sri Lanka at the end of the month to discuss ways to maximise the advantages of their cooperation.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation