15th Joint Committee Meeting on ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement Concludes in Jakarta

The 15th Joint Committee meeting to review the progress and negotiations of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) was held from October 6 to 9, 2026, at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event was conducted in a hybrid format and included meetings of the Joint Committee as well as various sub-committees.

The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Nitin Kumar Yadav, Additional Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, and Ms. Mastura Ahmed Mustafa, Deputy Secretary General (Trade) of the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia. Representatives from ASEAN member states, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, participated in the proceedings.

Three out of the eight sub-committees under the AITIGA Joint Committee held hybrid meetings during this period. These included the Sub-Committee on Legal and Institutional Issues (SC-LII), the Sub-Committee on National Treatment, Market Access and Behavior (SC-NTMA), and the Sub-Committee on Rules of Origin (SC-ROO). The objective of these meetings was to enhance mutual understanding and maintain a constructive dialogue between both parties.

The Joint Committee has instructed all sub-committees to expeditiously complete the pending chapters under the AITIGA review and set time-bound targets to ensure measurable progress. India and ASEAN reaffirmed their commitment to a balanced and forward-looking agreement. Both sides emphasized the need to modernize the agreement and resolve pending policy issues to increase economic integration and strengthen bilateral trade.

The next meeting of the AITIGA Joint Committee will be held in India in January 2027 in hybrid mode. This upcoming meeting will review the progress made by the sub-committees and provide guidelines to conclude the negotiations in a timely manner.