Monday, May 8 2006 18:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that government will undertake bilateral and regional economic negotiations only after a serious and professional study of the issues concerned to ensure that domestic agriculture is not adversely affected.

Singh's letter allaying concerns expressed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi in this regard was written on April 20, in response to her communication on April 12, PMO sources said clarifying reports appearing in the media in this connection.

The Prime Minister has also said that the government was always careful in the case of agriculture and had often placed quantitative restrictions to protect the interests of Indian farmers with consultations being held in advance with stakeholders.

In her letter, Gandhi had written to him counseling the government to very carefully scrutinise India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to safeguard the interests of domestic farmers.

PMO sources said after the letter to Gandhi, the Prime Minister's Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) had also met on May 3 to discuss the current status of negotiations for India-ASEAN FTA.

The discussions were still on and no final decision has been taken on these issues, the sources said the Commerce Ministry has also prepared a paper making ecommendations on various issues for the TERC.