Following the successful closure of the free trade agreement with the European Union, India is set to push ahead with its global trade strategy, as key FTA pacts with the United States, Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), among others, in the pipeline, Commerce Ministry sources said on Wednesday.
A trade deal with Chile is almost sealed and will pick up pace after budget, while New Zealand will sign deal with India once legal scrubbing is over, the sources informed. Apart from this, GCC, Israel FTAs are being set up and talks are underway with the United States in a “cordial environment”.
Discussions for a deal with the south American trading bloc mercosur are expected to begin soon and scoping study has started. Moreover, the sources added that Canada has indicated that they want speed up the FTA process while review for the ASEAN FTA is underway. Lastly, India is also finalising social security agreement with United Kingdom.
The ‘Mother of all deals’ was signed between New Delhi and the EU on Tuesday, and is being considered a huge success.
The trade deal, which accounts for 25% of the global GDP and one-third of global trade, aims to strengthen economic and political ties between the world’s second and fourth largest economies, at a time of rising geopolitical tensions and global economic challenges.
The FTA will also expand bilateral trade and lifts Indian exports of goods such as textiles and jewellery, which have been hit by 50% US tariffs since late August.
Legal scrubbing of the agreement is now underway, with the government aiming to release the legally cleared text within the next two weeks. Following ratification on both sides, the agreement is expected to enter into force about a year from now.
According to the Commerce Ministry, bilateral trade in goods and services between India and the EU stood at over $219 billion in 2024-25.
India is well-positioned to gain from this deal as it gives preferential market access to over 99% of Indian exports by value into the EU, the ministry said.
However, the most anticipated US-India trade deal remains to be clinched. Donald Trump’s 50% punitive tariffs on India have thrown trade with Washigton (India’s largest trading partner) off balance since they came into effect.
