=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/12/11/f= inancial0840EST0032.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 11, 2003 (AP) India to lift flight restrictions on airlines from South and East Asian cou= ntries RAJESH MAHAPATRA, Associated Press Writer (12-11) 05:40 PST NEW DELHI (AP) -- Airlines from 10 Southeast Asian nations will soon be allowed to make daily flights to India, the country's civil aviation minister said Thursday. The decision to relax the restrictions comes as India improves political and business ties with the region. For decades the number of flights has been restricted, mainly to protect the country's state-run airlines. "We will continue to give support to them (state-run airlines), but they have to prepare to face the competition in an increasingly open economic regime," Civil Aviation Minister Rajeev Pratap Rudy told The Associated Press. India is working on a free trade agreement with Association of Southeast Asian nations. Now, airlines from the 10 ASEAN countries will be allowed to fly daily to New Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, and 18 other tourist destinations in India, Rudy said. Indian airlines will also get similar access to the ASEAN countries, Rudy said. ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand. The Indian Cabinet also decided to allow private Indian airlines to operate flights to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives, members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC. Sri Lanka's state-run carrier will be allowed to fly daily to destinatio= ns throughout India, and can use India as an operating base to fly to any SAARC country, he said. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP