From correspondents in Delhi, India, 12:00 AM IST

India has opened its air space for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-states under an open-sky regime, the government said Friday.

With this, designated airlines from ASEAN members can now to fly into any Indian city, while Indian carriers too can fly to these countries after modalities are worked out. As of now, airlines from these countries can operate only on approved routes within India.

India Nov 6 gave its formal approval at the 14th ASEAN Transport Ministers' meeting held in Manila, the Philippines, to an open-sky regime for ASEAN members.

ASEAN consists of 10 countries - Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei and Laos.

India too is looking forward at ASEAN countries to liberalise their air policy between the members, the government said.

ASEAN members and India had agreed in 2003 to pursue cooperation for an open-sky agreement, covering both airfreight and passenger services.

It was also decided that airlines would utilise resources and business management, and work towards code sharing arrangements.

The other issues for cooperation were for airports and air navigation, aviation safety and security, besides exchange of information.

These issues will be worked out with another round of talks with the ASEAN countries.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)