INDIA is seeking to expand border trade with Myanmar, Bangladesh and China under a new five-year economic plan announced by the New Delhi government earlier this month.

India would now seek agreements with the countries to increase bilateral trade, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of India’s Economic Planning Commission, told reporters July 8 following talks with the chief ministers of Indian states bordering Myanmar, China and Bangladesh.

“Given the location of the region, importance of the ‘Look East’ policy and prospect of border trade not explored in the past, there is a huge potential for this with neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar and China,” Mr Ahluwalia was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.

India adopted its “Look East” policy in the mid-1990s in an effort to promote diplomatic and economic ties with East Asian countries.

Myanmar and India established border trade in 1995 through Tamu in Sagaing Division and Moreh in India’s Mizoram State. A second border checkpoint was opened at Reedkhawdhar in Chin State in 2004.

Meanwhile, the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative of Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) free trade pact featuring Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand missed this year’s July 1 deadline due to differences among member-countries over rules of origin of goods, the sensitive list of goods and tariff liberalisation schedule.

The BIMSTEC group brings together more than 1.3 billion people, a fifth of the world’s total population, with a combined GDP of approximately US$750 billion.

In other India trade news, New Delhi announced it would import 116,000 tonnes of beans and pulses in July-August to meet a domestic shortage that has pushed up prices there.

A major beans and pulses consumer, India produces only half what it requires, providing an important export outlet for Myanmar.