Cooperation Agreements Involving India

Describes the trade agreements in which this country is involved. Provides resources for U.S. companies to obtain information on the use of these agreements. In addition to the ECSC, Australia and India are participating in the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – an ASEAN-centric proposal for a free trade area that would initially include the 10 ASEAN member states and countries with existing free trade agreements with ASEAN. The “Guiding Principles and Objectives for the Negotiation of RCEP”, adopted by economy ministers in August 2012, set out certain principles, such as .B. a broader and deeper commitment with significant improvements over existing free trade agreements, taking into account the individual and different circumstances of countries; facilitate countries` engagement in global and regional supply chains; Taking into account the different levels of development of the participating countries, etc. It also mentions areas of negotiation such as goods, services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition and dispute settlement with the possibility of identifying other areas. India and the United States work closely together in multilateral organizations, including the United Nations, the G-20, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. The United States welcomes India`s membership in the UN Security Council in 2021 for a two-year term and supports a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.

India is a dialogue partner of ASEAN, a partner of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and an observer of the Organization of American States. India is also a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), with which the United States is a dialogue partner. In 2019, the United States joined the Indian Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure to expand its cooperation in the field of sustainable infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region. During three working groups, i.e. under the AFP-SEOM consultation mechanism, the Working Parties on Trade in Goods (WWWG), the Working Party on Trade in Services (WGTIS) and the Working Party on Investment (WGI) were established. Three new Working Groups on Competition, Intellectual Property and Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH) were established at the 4th meeting of RCEP from March 31 to April 4, 2014 in Nanning, China. At the 5th meeting of RCEP, held in Singapore from 21 to 27 June 2014, a new working group on “Legal and Institutional Issues” was established. Four sub-working groups, reporting to the Working Party on Trade in Goods, have been established on Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation (CPTF), SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) and Stracap (Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures). Therefore, in addition to the NTC, there are 7 working groups and 4 sub-working groups to further deepen trade relations, the governments of Australia and India began negotiating the Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECSC) in 2011.

Negotiations are expected to conclude shortly and another bilateral trade agreement between Australia and its key partners in the Asian region is expected to materialize. The implementation of the ECSC with India is expected to contribute significantly to the further growth of trade in goods and services and investment. U.S.-India defense and security relations have continued to deepen, supported by strong political commitments in both countries and growing concerns about China`s growing self-confidence throughout the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. and India have expanded their defense activities and consultations, and recently concluded two more so-called “basic defense agreements, ending a nearly two-decade effort by U.S. policymakers to formalize the legal foundations for operational defense cooperation.” However, there is no guarantee that this positive development will continue quickly. In the United States, there is growing concern about India`s budgetary constraints, its relations with Russia, its heavy response to a pattern of Chinese provocations on its border and its drift towards an illiberal majority policy. In addition, the Biden administration will likely attempt, for good reason, to rebalance bilateral relations by placing a disproportionate emphasis on security issues to address a broader range of issues such as global health, energy and climate change, as well as technology policy cooperation. .