By IANS
New Delhi : India and Japan will sign a comprehensive economic pact in less than two years as talks on the issue are already in progress, a commerce and industry ministry official said here Monday.
“CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) talks have not hit a roadblock, just that both the governments are finalising the modalities,” Dinesh Sharma, joint secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry told reporters on the sidelines of a conference – India Japan Strategic Partnership: Towards New Bilateral Cooperation – organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“Talks are under progress and both the countries should sign the agreement before March 2009,” Sharma added.
His comment comes a day before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives on a three-day India visit to seek greater cooperation and enhancement in bilateral trade and investment across all sectors.
According to the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), bilateral trade between India and Japan has the potential to double from the current $7 billion to $14 billion by 2012.