India and China to pursue free trade agreement

By Alex Singleton | 12 April 2005

The Economic Times (India) reports:

China is expected to emerge as one of India's largest trading partners with the two countries planning to shoot for a bilateral trade target of $30 billion by 2010.

The two countries... are also proposing to start work on a feasibility study to establish a regional trade agreement (RTA) between themselves.

The two nations are independently pursuing the idea of establishing a free-trade arrangement with the 12-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and an RTA between them will help create a pan-Asia common market of close to 3 billion consumers, almost half the world's population.