India and Bhutan today agreed to extend the Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit, which is expiring on July 31, for one more year.
The existing agreement was signed on July 29, 2006, for a period of ten years.
Officials of both the countries held discussions here to finalise the text of the draft new agreement.
Till the finalisation of the new draft, both the sides agreed that "in the interim, to prevent disruption of trade, the existing agreement may be extended for a period of one year or till the date of coming into force of the new agreement, whichever is earlier," the commerce ministry said in a statement.
The visiting Bhutanese delegation led by the Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Bhutan discussed the issue with Indian officials here.
"After deliberations, it was agreed that the new agreement may be signed at the earliest, after obtaining the internal approvals by both the sides, and it would be made effective from a mutually agreed date," it added.
The major items of imports from Bhutan include electricity, metals, minerals, alcoholic beverages, chemicals, cement, timber and vegetables. The major exports from India are petroleum products, minerals,machinery, automobiles, chemicals, wood, plastic and rubber.
The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 721 million in 2015-16 as compared to USD 483.81 million.
