New Delhi: With Indiaaiming to establish an Asian economic grouping in line with the European Union,Government today said negotiations on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA)between Indiaand the ASEAN is likely to be completed soon.

"Following the agreement reached at the Cebu(ASEAN-India) summit, we hope to soon conclude negotiations on a bilateral FTAwith ASEAN", External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at an AsianSecurity Conference here.

He said India'svision was that of an 'Asian Economic Community' which would be the driver ofgrowth and economic integration in the entire region.

Such a grouping would be the 'third pole' of the world economy after the EU andthe North American Free Trade Area, he said.

Observing that the long-term goal should be the creation of a harmonious andprosperous community of nations which would pool its resources to tackle commonchallenges, he said a virtual Asian economic community was emerging through theFTAs amongst countries of the region.

"It was in this context that we have suggested a Pan- Asian FTA that couldbe the starting point for an economic community", Mukherjee said.

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, inaugurating the conference organisedby the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, pointed to the emergingchallenges and said it was a 'hard reality' that despite itsoutstanding progress in many fields, mankind has failed to make the world moresecure.