India is planning to extend the facility of visa-on-arrival to Brunei citizens.

India and the ASEAN already have a FTA on goods which is being implemented since 2011. The two-way India-ASEAN trade is $80 billion.With the pact on services and investment, two-way trade is expected to touch $100 billion mark by 2015. ASEAN bloc consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is slated to visit Brunei on October 9-10 to participate in the 11th ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit. Thereafter he will proceed to Indonesia on a two day visit.

A formal intergovernmental agreement on the Nalanda University that is coming up in Rajgir in Bihar is expected at the East Asia Summit. During Dr Singh’s visit discussions will be held on connectivity projects, including the Trilateral Highway, linking Thailand and Myanmar.

Secretary (East) in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Ashok K Kantha said that during Dr Singh’s visit to Brunei the proposed FTA on services and investment with ASEAN will, however, not be inked. It will be signed sometimes by the end of 2013.

Kantha, who is set to take over as India's envoy to Beijing, said the 'legal scrubbing' over the proposed FTA on services and investment is already completed and the draft has been sent to member countries for review.

The two sides had agreed to have an FTA on services and investments during the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in December last year. It was earlier expected to be signed at the Brunei summit during Dr Singh’s visit.

Kantha said that 'all issues have been sorted out' with member countries of ASEAN before preparing the draft on FTA on services and investment. The FTA when implemented is expected to facilitate the temporary movement of business people, including contractual service suppliers and independent professionals in accounting, architecture, engineering services, medical and dental, nursing and pharmacy, computer services and management consulting.

Some countries, especially the Philippines and Indonesia, had voiced concern over the movement of professionals under mode 4 - which will make entry of Indian professionals to the ASEAN nations easier. They feared it might affect their workforce with the increased presence of Indian workers and were opposing the agreement.

Dr Singh will hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the East Asia summit, and is expected to meet the new Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

The Nalanda University, set to come up 12 km from the ancient Nalanda ruins, will start its first academic session from 2014 with two schools, postgraduate classes in ecology and environment and historical studies.

The Nalanda University project is an initiative of the Indian government and is supported by the East Asia Summit, a forum of 16 countries of the East Asia region. Several East Asia member countries have pledged funds for the university. Australia and China have promised $1 millionl.

At home the apex Indian industry body CII in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will host a Mekong-India Conference in Delhi on November 19.