According to the report, India’s next free trade agreement is likely to be with Chile, with officials saying negotiations are “close to completion” and could be fast-tracked after the Union Budget. Canada has also expressed interest in speeding up trade talks that were put on hold during former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tenure, particularly amid growing trade tensions with the US.
Officials told TOI that Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, Maninder Sidhu, has invited Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to visit Canada in the third week of next month. Discussions are underway to finalise updated terms of reference to reflect changes over the past two years.
The report added that ASEAN countries, earlier reluctant to review their trade pact with India, are now showing greater openness, while negotiations are also ongoing with Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Preliminary “scoping work” is underway for a potential agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur, which includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Officials said the expanding network of trade agreements is expected to boost market access for Indian goods, offer consumers cheaper imports, and position India as a manufacturing and export hub. “It is now possible for a European company to set up a factory in India and export to EU nations at zero duty,” one official was quoted as saying. Another noted that global automakers such as Mercedes and BMW could assemble vehicles in India and ship them to Australia duty-free.
“India is happy and willing to expand its trading arrangements,” an official told TOI, adding that partnerships with “fair business partners” pose little risk to India due to strong complementarities in trade.