Overriding the alleged adverse impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on India's trade balance and the manufacturing sector, Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday claimed the country's exports in fact gained from those regional and bilateral pacts.

Speaking at the recently-held Trade & Economic Relations Committee (TERC) meeting, Mr. Sharma said that regional and bilateral FTAs with ASEAN countries significantly boost India's exports.

The Commerce department release quoted him saying, "With ASEAN, exports have more than doubled after signing of the Indo-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement in 2009, though imports have also grown as is natural in any trade agreement."

The TERC, which is chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, discussed the country's trade engagements, particularly with EU, SAFTA, Africa and RCEP.

Mr. Sharma underlined that India has a massive trade surplus of around $12 billion with SAFTA alone. A significant portion of the country's imports from this region are essential items, like edible oils from Malaysia and Indonesia and coke and petroleum products from Indonesia.

The meeting followed Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's reported concerns over the country's soaring imports with the FTA partner countries. He reportedly cautioned against hurried signing of FTAs.