Rajapaksa wants inclusive approach to trade deal with India

Colombo: Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday cautioned the government on entering into the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India saying it should take the nation into confidence before signing the deal.

In a statement, Rajapaksa said that not enough information has been made available by the government on the proposed pact.

"The government has indicated that they intend to sign an Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement with India this month. Neither the Parliament, nor the general public have been officially informed about the contents of this proposed agreement" he said.

"We gather that the proposed ETCA is not a detailed document but only a framework agreement which would leave the specific details on the trade in goods and services and investment to be worked out later," the statement said.

He warned that government should not rush into signing open agreements while leaving the specifics to be worked out later.

"It is important that Sri Lanka should have a robust trade relationship with India. A trade agreement should be entered into only after a proper study of the possible problems and impediments that could arise. We must learn from our experiences with the 1998 Free Trade Agreement with India which ran into many problems in  implementation," he said.

Issues such as ports of entry, product certification, mutual recognition of standards, Indian state laws governing trade and the caps imposed on certain export items from Sri Lanka all became issues that prevented Sri Lanka from achieving its full export potential to the Indian market, the statement added.

Rajapaksa's comments came as the Indian High Commissioner here had expressed his surprise at the reaction of the opposition and Rajapaksa to the proposed ETCA.

Sri Lankan trade unions and professional groups have expressed vehement opposition to the deal saying it would endanger the employment opportunities for Sri Lankans.