KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28: The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) expects to sign a free trade agreement with India by the middle of next year, the chief of the grouping said on Tuesday.

The comment reflects Asean’s caution about whether differences over concessions by India can be ironed out in time for a summit in November, following an upbeat assessment by India’s top trade official this week.

Ong Keng Yong, secretary-general of Asean, said the gap between the negotiating positions of the two sides made efforts to reach agreement difficult, but he hoped the November meeting would give political impetus to the talks.

“We’re hoping to have some agreement for leaders at this coming summit in Singapore,” Ong told reporters in the Malaysian capital. “It’s not easy, because of the gap that’s still there, but we hope to get some political momentum.” In Manila this week, Indian Commerce Secretary Gopal Pillai said the agreement was almost 98 per cent settled, though he did not say what issues needed to be ironed out.

“We hope to sign it at the Asean summit in Singapore in November,” Pillai told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an Asean trade meeting.

Asean officials have previously said India needs to agree to take out petroleum products from a sensitive list of goods whose tariffs will not be eliminated.

Besides petroleum, India wanted palm oil, coffee, tea and pepper to be treated as a special case, Ong said.

“They say their concern is that these five products are critical to them and they cannot give concessions to Asean,” he added.

—Reuters/AFP