Asean is China's B-team, India has no interest in having a trade deal with them: Piyush Goyal

At a time when India is engaged in multiple trade negotiations, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has slammed Asean countries as the 'B-team of China' and has called the trade deal with the bloc 'silly'. read more
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has slammed Asean countries as the 'B-team of China' and has dubbed trade deals with them as 'silly'.
Goyal's remarks have come at a time when India is holding trade negotiations with various countries and blocs, such as the United States, European Union (EU), Australia, and New Zealand. In recent time, India has signed trade deals with the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Speaking at the India Global Forum in the UK, Goyal said in an apparent swipe at the previous Congress-led government that India was 'more focused on doing trade agreements with countries who were our competitors' instead of building complementary partnerships, according to NDTV Profit.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Goyal called such an approach 'silly'. He included the India-Asean trade agreement among such deals and said members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc were 'B-team of China'.
'If I do an ASEAN agreement with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, it really is silly, because I'm opening up my market to my competitors,' said Goyal.
In an apparent reference to the issue of China manipulating country of origin norms by routing its goods via Asean countries, Goyal said that the bloc had become the 'B-Team of China'.
Goyal further said, 'Instead of that, we're focusing on Australia and New Zealand, which will take another three to four months.'
India and Asean signed the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) in 2010. While the agreement led to the increase in trade by volume, the balance of trade remains heavily in favour of Asean countries. Coupled with the issue of China gaming the trade pact, the AIFTA has often drawn criticism about not being as beneficial to India as envisioned.
Besides the United States, EU, Australia, and New Zealand, India is currently also negotiating trade deals with the trading bloc European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which comprises Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland. India is also holding trade talks with Chile and Peru.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Hindustan Times

26 minutes ago

• Hindustan Times

Belarus frees jailed opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky after appeal from US

Belarus freed top opposition figure Sergei Tikhanovsky and over a dozen other political prisoners Saturday following an appeal from the White House, Minsk said, a sign of warming ties between Washington and Belarus-ally Moscow. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya hugs her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky in unnamed place in Lithuania. (AFP) The release came just hours after US special envoy Keith Kellogg met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, the highest-profile visit of a US official to the authoritarian state in years. Tikhanovsky's wife Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who took the mantle of the opposition movement after her husband's jailing, thanked US President Donald Trump directly for brokering the deal. European politicians and members of Belarus's exiled opposition also welcomed the news. The European Union hailed Tikhanovsky's release as a "symbol of hope" and a leading activist calling it an "important moment". Tikhanovsky, 46, had been imprisoned for more than five years. The popular Youtuber had planned to run against Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election, but was arrested and detained weeks before the vote. He was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for "organising riots" and "inciting hatred", then to another 18 months for "insubordination". Svetlana -- a political novice at the time of his arrest -- ran against Lukashenko in her husband's place but lost after what the opposition described as widespread falsification. She later fled Belarus. "It's hard to describe the joy in my heart," she said in a post on X following her husband's release. Transferred to Lithuania Among the 13 others freed were Radio Liberty journalist Igor Karnei, arrested in 2023 and jailed for participating in an "extremist" organisation. They have now been transferred from Belarus to Lithuania, where they were receiving "proper care", Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said. Swedish-Belarusian citizen Galina Krasnyanskaya, arrested in 2023 for allegedly supporting Ukraine, was also freed, said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has outlawed all genuine opposition parties. It is the only European country to retain the death penalty as a punishment. The eastern European country still holds more than 1,000 political prisoners in its jails, according to local human rights group Viasna. 'Sincerest joy' Lukashenko's spokeswoman said the Belarusian leader ordered the release of the prisoners on Trump's "request", Russian state media reported. There was no immediate comment from the White House. Since taking office, Trump has engaged in direct talks with Vladimir Putin, ending his predecessor's policy of isolating the Russian president. The two nuclear powers have since worked to normalise diplomatic ties, which have for years lingered at their lowest point since the Cold War. Tikhanovsky was for years held incommunicado, and in 2023 his wife was told that he had "died". In a video published by Viasna on Saturday, he appeared almost unrecognisable, his head shaven and face emaciated. A charismatic activist, Tikhanovsky drew the ire of authorities for describing Lukashenko as a "cockroach" and his campaign slogan was "Stop the cockroach." Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in the 2020 election, a result that sparked massive opposition protests which authorities violently suppressed. The Belarusian autocrat claimed a record seventh term in elections earlier this year that observers dismissed as a farce. Fellow Belarusian political activists and foreign politicians welcomed the release of the 14 on Saturday. Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski expressed his "sincerest joy", while Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics called Tikhanovsky's freedom a "much awaited and long overdue moment". Pavel Latushko, a former culture minister in Belarus who supported the 2020 protests against Lukashenko, said all those released had been jailed illegally. He hailed Tikhanovsky's release as an "important moment". European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed Tikhanovsky's release. "This is fantastic news and a powerful symbol of hope for all the political prisoners suffering under the brutal Lukashenka regime," she said on X. Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Tikhanovsky's release was "fantastically good news", in a post to X. "At the same time, we must not forget the many other prisoners in Belarus. Lukashenko must finally release them," he added. bur-cad/jj X

Mint

26 minutes ago

• Mint

Trump Envoy's Belarus Visit Is Followed by Prisoner Release

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko released 14 imprisoned opposition activists after meeting with a US presidential envoy in the highest-level contact between the two countries in years. President Donald Trump's envoy, General Keith Kellogg, visited Lukashenko — an ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin who's under a range of international sanctions, including by the US — in Minsk on Saturday just before the announcement. Lukashenko pardoned 14 prisoners at Trump's request, presidential spokeswoman Natalya Eismont said on the Pul Pervogo Telegram channel. Those freed include Siarhei Tsikhanouski, the spouse of top Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. The former prisoners are in Lithuania and receiving care, according to the government in Vilnius. 'You've stirred up quite a lot of noise around the world with your visit,' Lukashenko said at the start of the meeting with Kellogg. 'But I'm surprised by that — can't we have a normal dialogue and talk about our affairs, about the relations between Belarus and the United States of America?' Kellogg is the highest-ranking US official to visit Belarus in years. When Secretary of State Michael Pompeo went to Minsk in 2020, it was the first visit by a top-ranked US diplomat since 1993. Releasing Tsikhanouski was based 'solely on humanitarian grounds, with the goal of reuniting his family,' Eismont said. She said those released also include citizens of Japan, Poland, Estonia, Sweden and the US. The White House didn't comment on Kellogg's meeting or the prisoner release. Tsikhanouskaya thanked Trump, Kellogg and the European Union after her husband was freed. European leaders, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland, hailed the releases and urged action on those still held in Belarus. 'Yes, it's good that these people are released but it's only a handful,' Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told public broadcaster LRT. 'Pressure on the regime must continue. No weakening of sanctions.' The agenda included international issues, the global situation and US-Belarusian relations, the Belta news agency reported. Lukashenko and Kellogg met for more than six hours, Belta quoted Eismont as saying. Tsikhanouski, a popular video blogger, was arrested shortly after announcing a bid to challenge Lukashenko for the presidency in 2020. His wife ran in his place as Lukashenko's main opponent, triggering huge support and subsequent unprecedented protests against Lukashenko's claim of winning the vote. Others released on Saturday included political activists and a journalist. Estonia said one of its citizens, Allan Roio, was among those released. Roio, the founder of a nongovernmental organization, had been held since January 2024. Lukashenko, 70, has been under various sanctions for nearly a decade due to his role in undermining democracy in the former Soviet republic. He was redesignated by the US under expanded penalties in 2022 in response to Belarusian support for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Lukashenko has been in power for more than three decades and almost 1,200 people in Belarus are recognized as political prisoners, according to the Viasna Human Rights Center. With assistance from Milda Seputyte, Ott Tammik and Olesia Safronova. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

Time of India

27 minutes ago

• Time of India

Shah's take on English is his personal view: EPS

Coimbatore: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday said Union home minister Amit Shah's remark that a time would come when English speakers would feel embarrassed was his personal view. "Everyone has their own opinion. What he said was his personal view. He had, at the same time, emphasised on the importance of the mother tongue. Shah pointed out that some people are giving more importance to English than to their native language." Speaking to the media at the city airport, EPS said the public anger against the DMK was growing and that an anti-people govt was governing Tamil Nadu. "To divert attention from this, they are spreading 'derogatory' cartoons. The people would deliver appropriate punishment in the 2026 assembly elections." When asked about International Yoga Day , he said, "Yoga is essential for physical health and the Prime Minister is promoting it, for which he deserves congratulations."