Consider the following countries: 1) Australia 2) Canada 3) China 4) India 5) Japan 6) USA Which of the above are among the 'free-trade partners' of ASEAN?

The answer is C (1, 3, 4 and 5). ASEAN has concluded free-trade agreements as a bloc with Australia-New Zealand (AANZFTA, signed 2009), China (ACFTA, signed 2002), India (AITIGA, signed 2009), and Japan (AJCEP, signed 2008), along with South Korea and others. So Australia, China, India and Japan are all partners.

• Canada (2): No concluded ASEAN-Canada FTA. Talks were launched in 2015 but have not been concluded, so it is not a partner.
• USA (6): No ASEAN-wide FTA. The US has only bilateral deals with individual members, such as Singapore and Vietnam-linked arrangements, which do not make it an ASEAN free-trade partner.

The concept here is ASEAN's 'dialogue partner' versus 'FTA partner' distinction. Mains answers on India's Act East Policy, RCEP and the trade-deficit debate with ASEAN often draw on this. Check the current status of the Canada talks before relying on this for a recent-year question.

Trap: Treating every major economy that is an ASEAN dialogue partner or has bilateral deals with members as an FTA partner of the bloc.