The 6th ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Joint Committee meeting held earlier this month in New Delhi urging for an expeditious review of the AITIGA has raised hopes for the conclusion of trade negotiations by 2025. Early conclusion of trade negotiations is crucial for India to bridge its trade deficit with the ASEAN bloc. India’s trade deficit with ASEAN has widened as imports from the bloc into India have substantially increased while exports have fallen. India’s export market access can increase only when ASEAN nations reduce their tariffs and remove non-tariff barriers on maximum items of goods. ASEAN countries account for 11% of India’s global trade, but when it comes to Northeast, it is a depressing scenario. India’s Act Policy and Neighbourhood First policy put Northeast at the centre of such multilateral engagement, yet only 5% of the India-ASEAN trade originates in the region. The 21st Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for the Northeast India region, held at Aizawl in September, deliberated on the topic “Inclusion of the North East Region in the India-ASEAN Vision for Trade and Cooperation.” The conference urged the central government to extend the scope of the Act East Policy and Ashtalakshmi by incorporating the Northeast Region into the Indo-ASEAN bilateral trade agreements to appreciate the region’s proximity with ASEAN and encourage it to become a growth engine for the nation. Resolutions adopted at the conference called for accelerating the completion of key infrastructure projects such as the India–Myanmar–Thailand Highway and the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project, identifying and upgrading existing international trading outposts at Moreh in Manipur, Zokhawthar in Mizoram, Pangsha and Avangkhu in Nagaland, and Pangsu Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, among others. It also underscored the importance of making more efforts in encouraging tourism-related projects appreciating the rich cultural diversity and resources and potential of the region for promotion and, at the same time, employment livelihood generation, stressing regional inclusiveness policy, and promoting cultural exchange programs of the region with ASEAN Nations as a multiplier factor in promoting potential foreign trade in the region. Improvement in infrastructure at border trading points alone is not going to change the situation much without restoration of peace in Manipur and without restoration of peace in Myanmar. A key challenge in increasing the share of the Northeast region in India-ASEAN trade is the lack of an integrated market for the entire region. Travel restrictions due to regulations like the Inner Line Permit pose stumbling block to development of an integrated market as it comes in the way of seamless movement of goods and people within the region. An integrated market equipped with integrated logistics and a coordinated supply chain across the region will present the Northeast region as a single bloc with immense potential for trade and commerce for traders in ASEAN countries. It will then be easier for the traders to take a holistic view of the trade and investment potential of the entire region and explore commercial viability. Gradual improvement of connectivity within the region with the central government pushing for connecting all state capitals with railway links along the expansion of national highways connecting the states and improvement in air connectivity within the region has unlocked opportunities of integrating the markets in the region. An integrated market will also prompt the states to avoid duplicity in identifying similar products and services for tapping market potential in the ASEAN economy. As a viable alternative to states promoting similar products, the North Eastern Council or the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region can help them identify a set of unique products from each state having maximum export potential to be branded as a product from the Northeast region on the line of the One District One Product scheme for export promotion in the country. Unique products from each state will have greater potential to attract the attention of traders from ASEAN onto a particular state producing those products. More products from the region being tagged with Geographic Indication (GI) can be leveraged to market these products under a common brand to represent the Northeast region. It will help the region diversify its export basket while tapping the potential for each GI-tagged product. Making growers, producers of these products, familiar with export market essentials is crucial to convince them on quality production, packaging, and producing goods at scale for commercial viability. Once the region as a whole is able to increase its share in India-ASEAN trade, it will unlock opportunities for individual states to explore more trade and commerce potential of more products having similar export potential. The development of an integrated market will also bring better marketing opportunities for traders in different states within the region. An integrated market of the Northeast region will also change the market outlook for the region for larger players in domestic markets.