India is open to more free trade agreements, and the focus of future agreements will go beyond trade, according to Sunil Barthwal, secretary, department of commerce.
Outlining the progress India has made in free trade agreements, Barthwal pointed out that a lot of countries were approaching India to sign FTAs, and the country would also consider its strategic needs before signing these agreements.
“Looking at FTAs from strategic needs, in addition to trade,” Barthwal said, highlighting that critical mineral supply, from the point of view of the energy transition, was one area the country was considering.
Peru and Chile are the two Latin American countries which have expressed interest in signing an FTA with India.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have also expressed interest.
India is in the process of finalising its FTA with the United Kingdom. Recently, India concluded negotiations on 19 of the 26 chapters and hopes to complete the process before the end of the year.
India is also negotiating the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Australia. Last year, it had signed India-Australia Economic Cooperation Agreement, which came into force on December 29, 2022.
The United Arab Emirates and India entered into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last year, which saw trade between the countries increase 16% to $84.5 billion in FY23 from $72.9 billion in FY22.
The ministry said that talks were also undergoing for agreements with Canada, European Union and for the IndoPacific Economic Framework.