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What is the story about?
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun in New Delhi to discuss ways to deepen economic ties between the two countries, with a focus on boosting trade and investment and expanding business-to-business opportunities.
The two sides discussed greater collaboration and the co-creation of solutions to promote more balanced and sustainable growth in bilateral trade. They also reviewed ways to strengthen trade-promotion activities and facilitate greater engagement between businesses in the two countries.
The ministers exchanged views on the ongoing review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and emphasised the need to deepen bilateral engagement through the India-Thailand Joint Trade Committee in a time-bound manner.
The meeting also included a Thai business delegation representing sectors such as space technology, cold-chain logistics, food processing, innovation, health and wellness, and trade and investment promotion.
Thailand is one of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a key trading partner for India. The bloc, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar and Vietnam, accounted for about 11% of India’s global trade in 2024-25. Bilateral trade between India and ASEAN stood at about $123 billion during the year.
India has been seeking to strengthen its export opportunities amid heightened global trade uncertainty, while also pushing for a review of the AITIGA to address concerns over its widening trade deficit with the bloc.
In May 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs said India was seeking overall tariff liberalisation covering 80% of tariff lines under the AITIGA review, with at least 70% liberalisation for each individual ASEAN member.
P Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said India had conveyed its position during discussions with ASEAN countries, while emphasising that the bloc comprises economies at different stages of development.
India has argued that the tariff offer from ASEAN should not simply be assessed using a weighted average, but should also take into account the size of individual economies. Kumaran said the two sides had reached a broad understanding, with details still being worked out and hopes of greater clarity on completing the review in the coming months.
The AITIGA review has assumed importance for India because of the sharp increase in imports from ASEAN since the agreement came into force in 2010. India’s exports to ASEAN rose from $26.63 billion in 2010-11 to about $44 billion in 2022-23, an increase of more than 65%. Imports, however, rose much faster, from $30.61 billion to $87.58 billion over the same period.
The trade imbalance has persisted in subsequent years. In 2023-24, India exported $32.71 billion worth of goods to ASEAN while imports stood at $66.55 billion. In 2024-25, exports were about $39 billion against imports of roughly $84 billion.
Indian officials have also raised concerns over differences in the level of tariff liberalisation offered by individual ASEAN members. Government sources had earlier said India had opened 71% of its tariff lines, compared with 41% for Indonesia, 66.5% for Vietnam and 67% for Thailand.
The government has also been under pressure from domestic industries over the impact of imports from ASEAN, particularly in sectors such as steel and electronics.
Indian officials have argued that the ASEAN grouping is not a common customs union but consists of economies at widely different stages of development. They have therefore pushed for greater flexibility in the AITIGA review, including through discussions with individual member countries.
Government sources had also indicated that India could consider separate trade agreements with individual ASEAN members, pointing out that it already has free-trade agreements with Singapore and Malaysia.
Concerns over third-country goods entering India through ASEAN have also featured in the government’s review of the agreement. Officials have cited instances of subsidised or dumped imports and pointed to gaps in provisions intended to prevent such goods from benefiting indirectly from the trade pact.
The government’s position has been that the AITIGA review should create a more level playing field for Indian businesses while preserving opportunities to expand trade and investment with ASEAN economies.
Also Read: Apple’s iPhone 18 launch puts its post-event share rebound to the test
The two sides discussed greater collaboration and the co-creation of solutions to promote more balanced and sustainable growth in bilateral trade. They also reviewed ways to strengthen trade-promotion activities and facilitate greater engagement between businesses in the two countries.
The ministers exchanged views on the ongoing review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and emphasised the need to deepen bilateral engagement through the India-Thailand Joint Trade Committee in a time-bound manner.
The meeting also included a Thai business delegation representing sectors such as space technology, cold-chain logistics, food processing, innovation, health and wellness, and trade and investment promotion.
Thailand is one of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a key trading partner for India. The bloc, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar and Vietnam, accounted for about 11% of India’s global trade in 2024-25. Bilateral trade between India and ASEAN stood at about $123 billion during the year.
India has been seeking to strengthen its export opportunities amid heightened global trade uncertainty, while also pushing for a review of the AITIGA to address concerns over its widening trade deficit with the bloc.
In May 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs said India was seeking overall tariff liberalisation covering 80% of tariff lines under the AITIGA review, with at least 70% liberalisation for each individual ASEAN member.
P Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said India had conveyed its position during discussions with ASEAN countries, while emphasising that the bloc comprises economies at different stages of development.
India has argued that the tariff offer from ASEAN should not simply be assessed using a weighted average, but should also take into account the size of individual economies. Kumaran said the two sides had reached a broad understanding, with details still being worked out and hopes of greater clarity on completing the review in the coming months.
The AITIGA review has assumed importance for India because of the sharp increase in imports from ASEAN since the agreement came into force in 2010. India’s exports to ASEAN rose from $26.63 billion in 2010-11 to about $44 billion in 2022-23, an increase of more than 65%. Imports, however, rose much faster, from $30.61 billion to $87.58 billion over the same period.
The trade imbalance has persisted in subsequent years. In 2023-24, India exported $32.71 billion worth of goods to ASEAN while imports stood at $66.55 billion. In 2024-25, exports were about $39 billion against imports of roughly $84 billion.
Indian officials have also raised concerns over differences in the level of tariff liberalisation offered by individual ASEAN members. Government sources had earlier said India had opened 71% of its tariff lines, compared with 41% for Indonesia, 66.5% for Vietnam and 67% for Thailand.
The government has also been under pressure from domestic industries over the impact of imports from ASEAN, particularly in sectors such as steel and electronics.
Indian officials have argued that the ASEAN grouping is not a common customs union but consists of economies at widely different stages of development. They have therefore pushed for greater flexibility in the AITIGA review, including through discussions with individual member countries.
Government sources had also indicated that India could consider separate trade agreements with individual ASEAN members, pointing out that it already has free-trade agreements with Singapore and Malaysia.
Concerns over third-country goods entering India through ASEAN have also featured in the government’s review of the agreement. Officials have cited instances of subsidised or dumped imports and pointed to gaps in provisions intended to prevent such goods from benefiting indirectly from the trade pact.
The government’s position has been that the AITIGA review should create a more level playing field for Indian businesses while preserving opportunities to expand trade and investment with ASEAN economies.
Also Read: Apple’s iPhone 18 launch puts its post-event share rebound to the test
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