Fta

India not re-considering joining mega trade agreement RCEP, says Goyal

India in 2019 decided not to join the mega free trade agreement RCEP as the pact was not addressing its concerns and since then there has been no change in that position, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. The RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) agreement is being negotiated among 10 ASEAN members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and their six free-trade pact partners Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Goyal said that the structure of RCEP did not adequately address the ambitions and concerns of India's stakeholders. Due to that, India decided not to join the bloc, in its current form. Accordingly, during the third RCEP Leaders Summit held on November 4, 2019, in Bangkok, India conveyed its position that current structure of RCEP did not address the outstanding issues and concerns of the country. "There ha

FTA talks with India to relaunch early 2025: UK PM Starmer tells Parliament

The Free Trade Agreement negotiations with India -- expected to significantly boost the estimated GBP 42-billion a year bilateral trade partnership -- will be relaunched early in the new year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has informed the UK Parliament here. It came during his statement to update the House of Commons on Thursday about his G20 Summit visit to Brazil, where he said he had a good discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi among other world leaders. The meeting earlier this week had led to both countries agreeing to resume the election-stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks. I had a good discussion with Prime Minister Modi about deepening our bilateral ties, Starmer told the members of Parliament. We agreed to raise the ambition of our UK-India comprehensive strategic partnership, which covers security, defence, technology, climate, health and education, building on the unique bonds and cultural ties between our two countries. Crucially, this work will start with t

India, Australia firm up clean energy partnership; pushing mega trade pact

India and Australia sealed an ambitious renewable energy partnership and set their eyes on a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese vowed to significantly ramp up overall bilateral ties. A raft of issues including ways to boost ties in areas of defence and security ties, mobility, science and technology and education figured prominently at the second India-Australia annual conclave held on the sidelines of the G20 summit late on Tuesday. The two leaders also looked forward to a long-term vision of defence and security collaboration to enhance collective strength, contribute to both countries' security, and make an important contribution to regional peace and security, according to a joint statement. The Renewable Energy Partnership (REP) would provide the framework for practical cooperation in priority areas such as solar energy, green hydrogen, energy storage, investments in related projects and .

India's FTAs not paused, all talks progressing as per schedule: Official

Negotiations for all the proposed free trade agreements, including those with the UK and European Union (EU), are progressing as per the schedule and the country's FTAs are not paused, a top government official has said. The official said that an impression is going around that FTAs are paused, which is not correct. "All our FTAs, whether it is with the EU or UK, all are progressing as per the schedule," the official said. In the coming weeks, a bilateral meeting is scheduled between the commerce secretary and the Director-General of the European Union to take stock of the negotiations for the proposed trade agreement with the European Union. They will also meet as part of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Besides the EU and the UK, India is negotiating these agreements with Australia, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Oman. In such pacts, two trading partners either significantly cut customs duties or remove the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promo

UK celebrates Diwali with hopes of a 'magic moment' for India FTA deal

The UK is very keen to clinch the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and is building towards that magic moment, Britain's minister in charge of the Indo-Pacific said during a special Diwali reception in London. Catherine West, parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), referenced the previous Conservative government's Diwali 2022 deadline to complete the FTA negotiations as she reiterated the recently elected Labour government's commitment to get the deal done. The FTA negotiations, which were paused for general elections in both countries, are aimed at significantly enhancing the estimated GBP 38.1 billion a year bilateral trading partnership. As the new government, we're still extremely keen to be getting on with our trade deal, which was meant to be signed a couple of Diwalis ago. But we don't mind, what's a Diwali between friends, said West, addressing the FCDO's gathering of parliamentarians, community leaders and ...

India, EU FTA negotiation priority, both sides pushing for early deal: MEA

During their bilateral talks at the Laxmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara, PM Modi and Sanchez discussed a wide range of topics, including trade, defence, and technology collaboration

India-UK negotiations on free trade deal likely to restart in November

India expects the UK to come forward for the next round of negotiations, after the Budget presentation later this month

India, Maldives sign currency swap agreement, to initiate talks on FTA

Seeking to strengthen bilateral ties, India and the Maldives on Monday inked a currency swap agreement to the tune of USD 400 million, a move that would help the archipelago nation overcome foreign exchange reserve issues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu also launched Rupay card in the Maldives, inaugurated the new runway at the Hanimadhoo International airport and agreed to further strengthen bilateral relations that had hit a rocky patch last year. Muizzu, who is on a four-day state visit, held talks with Prime Minister Modi at the Hyderabad House here. After the talks, India also handed over 700 social housing units to the Maldives built under the EXIM Bank's buyer's credit facilities. "Today, we have inaugurated the redeveloped Hanimaadhoo Airport. Now, the Greater Male Connectivity Project will also be expedited. We will also support the development of a new commercial port in Thilafushi," Modi told reporters here with Muizzu by his

India will take a multi-pronged approach to boost exports: Piyush Goyal

Our national interest will always be paramount. We'll calibrate and balance our policies based on needs of the country, says Piyush Goyal

May retaliate if Asean non-trade barriers persist, says Piyush Goyal

As for the fast-growing quick commerce segment, Goyal said that while the government had not studied potential violations, the industry department would examine their compliance with the law

Dairy sensitive sector, no plans to give duty concessions under FTA: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said dairy is a sensitive sector in India as it involves livelihood issues of small farmers and there are no plans to give duty concessions under any Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in this area. He said India has not given any duty concessions in the dairy sector even to Switzerland and Norway under the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) trade pact, which was signed in March. With Australia also, he said, the sector was discussed but India clearly conveyed the sensitivities involved in this area. "Our average holding with the farmer is small. It is 2-3 acre farm with 3-4 livestock whereas Australia's farm and dairy farms are both very large and it would be near impossible for these large and small farms to compete with each other on a common footing. "We had discussed this issue even three years ago and on earlier occasions also, and dairy is such a sensitive sector that in any of our FTAs across the world, we have not been a

Dairy sensitive sector; no plans to open up in any FTAs: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said dairy is a sensitive sector in India as it involves livelihood issues of small farmers and there are no plans at all to give any kind of duty concessions under any Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in this area. He said that India has not given any duty concessions in the dairy sector even to Switzerland and Norway under the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) trade pact, which was signed in March. With Australia also, he said, that the sector was discussed but India clearly conveyed the sensitivities involved in this area. "Our average holding with the farmer is small. It is 2-3 acre farm with 3-4 live stocks whereas Australia's farm and their dairy farms are both very large and it would be near impossible for these large and small farms to compete with each other on a common footing. "We had discussed this issue even three years ago and on earlier occasions also and the dairy is such a sensitive sector that in any of our

India-Asean FTA talks: Goyal calls for addressing local industry's concerns

India on Friday called for addressing the concerns of its domestic industries affected by the existing free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation bloc ASEAN as the two regions negotiate a review of the pact. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has also emphasized the need to rectify the inequitable tariff liberalization under the agreement. Goyal said this during the stock-taking exercise of the progress of review talks for the India-ASEAN free trade agreement in goods (AITIGA) in Laos. All the ministers took note of the progress in negotiations for the review of the agreement. "Minister Goyal in his intervention stressed the need for addressing injury to industries from the existing FTA and the inequitable tariff liberalisation during the review. He also cited India's ongoing efforts of integrating with other economies through FTAs and highlighted the urgency in upgrading AITIGA which otherwise may lead to diversion of bilateral trade to other regions, the commerce ...

India, UK may hold next round of talks on proposed trade agreement in Oct

India and the UK are expected to hold the next round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement in October to resolve the pending issues and close the negotiations, a senior official said on Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the officials of the UK are briefing their new ministers about the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). The two sides have already taken stock of the progress of talks at secretary and minister levels. "The briefings are going on in the UK...they are briefing their new ministers and based on that, the negotiations will start. We are hoping that in October, the negotiations should resume," Barthwal told reporters here. He also said India is progressing on all FTAs, but there are certain things which are not in control of anyone. The India-UK talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. Due to the elections in India and Britain, both the countries

India-UK FTA talks delayed as new British govt yet to form negotiation team

The FTA talks have yet to resume because the UK has not yet appointed its negotiating team, but the process is likely to be finalised soon

India-Oman free trade pact talks at advanced stage, says Ambassador Narang

Discussions for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman are at an advanced stage and both sides hope to conclude the pact early, Indian Ambassador to Oman Amit Narang said on Tuesday. The pact will give a significant push to bilateral trade and investment ties between the two countries, he said. The pact, officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), is expected to boost Indian exports to the west Asian country by eliminating duties, especially on petroleum products, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and iron and steel. "Discussions for a bilateral CEPA with Oman are at an advanced stage. We hope to conclude these discussions early and once this is done, this will be a significant push to bilateral, not just trade, but also bilateral investment ties," Narang said. Addressing an event organised by Ficci here, the Indian Ambassador to Oman also highlighted the significant potential for enhancing direct shipping li

India, Aus to resume comprehensive FTA talks on Monday; progress expected

Chief negotiators of India and Australia will begin the next round of talks for the comprehensive free trade agreement from tomorrow in Sydney, where both sides are likely to close negotiations on several chapters of the pact, an official said. Both countries have already implemented an interim pact and are in discussions to expand its scope under the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement). The interim pact - Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) - came into force in December 2022. The tenth round of negotiations is scheduled from August 19-22 in Sydney. "Out of the total 19 areas of the agreement, we have completed our discussions on four chapters, and we are in very advanced stages in a few others. We hope that in this round, we should be able to close altogether, maybe more than 10 chapters," the commerce ministry official said. In this round, the official said that both countries are likely to get into market access discussions in goods and services. Th

Bimstec members must consider phase-wise FTA for faster implementation: CII

The study also said that Bimstec countries have built a range of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements

India free-trade agreement with Oman hits market-access roadblock

Differences over access to petrochemical products major bone of contention

Goyal says industry's demand for protection may derail UK, EU FTA talks

India and the UK have been negotiating a trade agreement for over two-and-a-half years