KUALA LUMPUR: India will be pragmatic and flexible while negotiating a free trade area (FTA) accord with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here on Monday.

The Prime Minister's assurance came at the fourth India-ASEAN summit after his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmed Badawi expressed the 10-member grouping's "concern" at New Delhi's proposal to leave out a "substantial portion of trade" from the FTA by excluding a large number of goods from tariff concessions.

The ASEAN leaders, Mr. Badawi said, sought a political commitment from Dr. Singh that India remained firm on negotiating the FTA. "As the ASEAN Chair, I bring this matter up so that we, the leaders, could provide some political direction on moving forward the negotiations," Mr. Badawi said.

Rising stature of India

"I think we all know that establishment of the ASEAN-India FTA will make our engagement more meaningful and substantive, and also reflect the rising stature of India. In this context, we urge India to positively consider the ASEAN's position ... given that India's own `Look East Policy' ... placed top priority on relations with ASEAN," Mr. Badawi said.

(India apparently has proposed to ASEAN a negative list of over 1,000 items which include palm oil, a product of interest to Malaysia).

"We are also generally happy with the state of India's relations with other major powers as testified [to] by the visit of Dr. Singh to the United States last July. India's improved relations with its neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan, are also key to peace and stability in South Asia and the region as a whole," Mr. Badawi asserted.

Rajiv Sikri, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, told presspersons that India was committed to negotiating the FTA within a time frame so that it could be implemented from next year.

On the Malaysian Chair's proposal that India, as a major power, continue to work with ASEAN in matters pertaining of disarmament, Mr. Sikri said New Delhi remained committed to universal, complete and non-discriminatory disarmament. "At the same time, we are a responsible nuclear power."

India and ASEAN were committed to combating terrorism and Dr. Singh offered New Delhi's experience in dealing with the menace to the 10-member grouping. The two sides also discussed maritime security.

Sanjaya Baru, Media Advisor to Dr. Singh, said India's capabilities in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology also figured in the discussions. There were possibilities of Indian companies working in the region producing generic drugs.

English language training

Dr. Singh proposed the setting up of permanent centres for English language training in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. He also proposed a tele-medicine and tele-education network for these countries and suggested holding an India-ASEAN technology summit.

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