More ambition needed: New FTAs welcome, but bigger targets lie ahead

An FTA has also been agreed upon with the United Kingdom (UK), which means that India now has formal trade pacts with three of the five Anglosphere economies

India and New Zealand on Monday announced that they had concluded discussions successfully on a free-trade agreement (FTA). Shortly before that, it was revealed that a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or Cepa, had been signed with the state of Oman, West Asia. While neither of these two economies is large or of significant global scale, these agreements are an opportune moment to consider India’s fresh approach to such pacts in recent years. An initial distrust of FTAs, particularly those signed by the previous dispensation, has now been partly rescinded. India has not gone so far, however, as to begin meaningful