India is the signatory of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), which came into force in July 1, 2006.

The goal of SAFTA is to cut tariffs among member countries and reduce tariffs to zero to 5% within 10 years, including sensitive products.

In order to fulfill the commitments made in the SAFTA negotiations, India will provide zero tariff market access to 8 million garments exported annually to Bangladesh, and the India and Bangladesh government signed a memorandum of understanding in September 16, 2006.

At the same time, India also decided to provide zero tariff market access for 3 million costumes in Sri Lanka each year. These garments must be produced in the India Sri Lanka free trade area without any raw material conditions and port restrictions. The India and Sri Lankan government signed a memorandum of understanding in October 5, 2007.

The above amount only accounts for a small proportion of domestic consumption, which can not have a negative impact on the domestic garment industry.