SINGAPORE -- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Tuesday warned against "backsliding" toward protectionism as Southeast Asian economic ministers launched a week of talks to strengthen regional trade links.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Lee said the talks come at a key moment, following the breakdown last month of global trade talks in Geneva.

While a strong rules-based global trading regime remained the best alternative for the world economy, ASEAN "should continue to integrate and liberalize" its own economies, he said.

"Our purpose is not to create a trade bloc; we are committed to open regionalism and adopt an inclusive approach," Lee said.

He urged ministers to be "watchful of any backsliding and resist the temptation to raise trade barriers or resort to protectionist practices for lack of an overall agreement."

At the Singapore meeting, which will last until Friday, ASEAN is expected to seal a free trade agreement (FTA) with India covering merchandise trade.

The FTA is expected to be signed in December during the annual ASEAN summit in Bangkok.

The 10-member ASEAN is also hoping to announce that it has concluded talks on a "substantive portion" of a comprehensive economic agreement with Australia and New Zealand.

A Southeast Asian trade official told AFP on Tuesday the negotiations with ASEAN's two Pacific neighbors were about "95 percent" finished.

Ministers informally began their talks Monday at a working dinner that lasted more than three hours. They made no comments on those talks.

The latest attempt to end a seven-year deadlock in the so-called Doha Round of global trade talks broke down in July because of a dispute between India and the United States over agricultural tariffs.