NEW DELHI, Dec 9: In the run-up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Kuala Lumpur from Sunday, India and the ten-member Asean grouping have resolved issues to start the free trade agreement by January 2006.

The contentious issue of rules of origin to prevent a third country’s products entering India taking advantage of the FTA has been resolved, paving the way for the implementation of India-Asean FTA by next year, secretary (East), external affairs ministry, Rajiv Sikri, told reporters on Friday.

At a media briefing on the four-day visit of Manmohan Singh to participate in the India-Asean summit and the East-Asia summit, Rajiv Sikri described the resolution as “very important dimension of our diplomacy” in furthering the look-East policy.

Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said: “The negotiation (on FTA) is on the verge of completion. We have passed many, many milestones. India-Asean bilateral trade around $22-25 billion this year is expected to grow by 30 per cent yearly with the launch of the FTA.

Mr Nath is in Kuala Lumpur to attend the Asean-India ministerial-level meeting. The FTA between Asean and India encountered some hiccups after disagreements over textiles and agriculture, said a news report.

India and Asean agreed in 2002 to begin talks on signing of an FTA to be implemented by 2006. However, differences crept up over the interpretation of rules of origin and the talks were temporarily abandoned, added the report.—APP