Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand is ready to expand a free trade agreement (FTA) to India if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)–India FTA talks fail to reach an agreement, a Thai senior official said on Apr. 4.

Chutima Bunyapraphasara, Director General of the Trade Negotiations Department, said that the ASEAN-India FTA talks, which have been going on for more than four years, will resume for the final round in July.

The talks will definitely be the last if ASEAN and India cannot strike a deal in the July talks, she said, adding that it will be a good opportunity for Thailand to individually hold talks with India to expand the FTA.

The two countries signed an agreement on the FTA framework in 2004. Trade negotiators of both countries have been discussing the list of goods and services to be included in the FTA framework.

Since signing the agreement on the FTA framework with India, trade volumes of Thailand and India have reached 3.4 billion USD. Thailand has exported 1.8 billion USD worth of goods to India while importing goods totalling at 1.6 billion USD.-Enditem