GCC Secretary-General Announces Free Trade Talks With India Mark New Phase In Partnership

The Gulf Cooperation Council and India have started formal talks on a free trade agreement, supported by a signed joint statement that signals a fresh stage in their strategic partnership and is expected to deepen economic and commercial relations between the two sides.

The joint statement on the launch of the free trade agreement negotiations was signed in New Delhi, during a ceremony attended by Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem Albudaiwi and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.

Jasem Albudaiwi confirmed that the GCC Secretariat is prepared to organise the opening round of negotiations at its headquarters in Riyadh, with the first meetings planned for the second half of this year, reflecting the joint interest in moving the process forward without delay.

During their discussions, the GCC and India examined the current level of cooperation and looked at ways to raise it further, with particular attention to the economic, investment, and trade fields, while both parties also noted the importance of building on existing links rather than starting from scratch.

Albudaiwi explained that the terms of reference already signed set out a clear and wide framework to guide the talks, giving negotiators a defined structure and helping both sides organise the different themes that will be addressed during the free trade agreement process.

The agreement is planned to cover several major areas, including trade in goods, customs procedures, trade in services, and digital trade, while also dealing with sanitary and phytosanitary standards, intellectual property rights, and cooperation on micro, small, and medium enterprises, besides further topics of shared interest.

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The GCC secretary-general stressed that this broad agenda matches the needs of the future economy, and expressed hope that the negotiations will end with a comprehensive and ambitious accord that responds to the priorities of both the Gulf states and India.

GCC India free trade agreement benefits and economic goals

According to Albudaiwi, the agreement is expected to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers, encourage higher volumes of quality investments in both directions, and support deeper liberalisation in trade and investment cooperation across the GCC and Indian markets.

He added that the planned deal seeks to build a more attractive climate for economic and investment activity, widen opportunities for the private sector, support the resilience of supply chains, and help speed up economic growth in line with the development visions adopted by GCC member states.

The two sides praised the work of their negotiation teams, stating that these efforts have pushed the talks forward and will help achieve a broad agreement that supports economic integration and easier trade between the GCC and India, while the SPA report noted the ceremony time as 19:19 local time, 16:19 GMT.

With inputs from SPA