Lok Sabha Question No. 1753 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Agreements signed in SAARC Summit
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: YOGI ADITYANATH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1753 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

## AGREEMENTS SIGNED IN SAARC SUMMIT

## † 1753. SHRI YOGI ADITYA NATH:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)     the  details  of  the  agreements  signed  during  the  SAARC Summit of Foreign Ministers held in Nepal;
- (b) the current status of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement; and
- (c) the details of the meeting held for setting up the South Asian Economic Union?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]

- (a) No  Agreements  were  signed  during  the  37th  Meeting  of  the Council of Ministers held at Pokhara, Nepal on 17th March, 2016. The meeting undertook an extensive review of the status of cooperation in diverse sectors such as education, health, science and technology, poverty alleviation, agriculture etc. within the ambit of SAARC.
- (b) The  South  Asian  Free  Trade  Area  (SAFTA)  Agreement  was signed  in  January  2004  and  came  into  force  on  1 st   January,  2006. SAFTA  envisages  eventual  zero  customs  duty  on  virtually all products within the region. Phased reduction of customs duties has been  negotiated  over  time.  India,  Bhutan,  Maldives  and  Pakistan have proposed that peak tariff on all products is to be reduced to 05% by the  year  2020  excluding  a  small  number  of  100  tariff  lines which may still remain in the Sensitive Lists of the Member States. Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have indicated the timeline for reduction  to  be  year  2030  with  larger  number  of  products  in  their Sensitive  Lists.  Sri  Lanka  is  yet  to  convey  its  position.    India  has

confirmed to reduce the number of products in the Sensitive Lists to 100  (for  Non-  Least  Developed  Countries)  and  to  reduce  the  tariff lines to 0-5% by the year 2020. The number of products in respect of India that figure in the Revised  Sensitive  Lists  (Phase-II) are currently  25  (for  Least  Developed  Countries)  and  614  (Non-Least Developed Countries).

With regard to addressing Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) to intraregional trade, the following broad categories have been identified (a)  procedures (b) variations in standards (c) transit, transport and infrastructural  difficulties  (d)  para  tariff  barriers  and  (e)  dispute settlement  mechanism.  The  Notifications,  Responses  and  CounterResponses  of  members  in  respect  of  above  categories  are  being examined.

- (c)            At  the  18 th   SAARC  Summit  (November  2014,  Kathmandu, Nepal),  the  Leaders  renewed  their  commitment  to  achieve  South Asian  Economic  Union  (SAEU)  in  a  phased  and  planned  manner. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been entrusted with the task of drawing  a  roadmap  to  achieve  SAEU.  Accordingly,  a  Regional Economic Integration Study (Phase II) has been concluded with the financial and technical assistance of ADB.

Two  SAARC-ADB  Special  Meetings  on  Regional  Economic Integration Study (Phase II) have been held. The first meeting was held  in  Goa,  India  on  14-15 th   April,  2015.  The  meeting  made  the following prioritized recommendations for achieving SAEU: (i) Reduction/Removal  of  Non-Tariff  Barriers  (NTBs)  and  Para-Tariff Barriers (PTBs) (ii) Energy Cooperation (iii) Investment Cooperation (iv) Reduction of products in the Sensitive Lists (v)  SAARC Agreement  in  Trade  in  Services  (SATIS)  (vi)  Trade  Facilitation Measures and (vii) Improvement in connectivity (rail,  road,  air  and maritime) among the Member States.

The second Special Meeting was held in Maldives on 27-28th January, 2016 with Trade Facilitation as the theme. It also examined the status of implementations of recommendations made in  the  first  meeting.  The  next  SAARC-ADB  Special  Meeting  is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September 2016 on the theme of Transport Connectivity.

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