India, Gulf Cooperation Council begin talks for free trade pact

New Delhi: India and the six-nation bloc of Middle Eastern nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), started negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA), an official statement said on Tuesday.

In this regard, a joint statement was signed between the visiting Secretary General of the council, Jasem Mohammad Al Budaiwi, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal here.

"The Joint Statement on the India-GCC FTA, in New Delhi formally launching negotiations for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement," the commerce ministry said.

Al Budaiwi emphasised that the FTA will serve as an important tool to further strengthen trade and investment ties between India and GCC countries by infusing predictability and certainty for businesses.

GCC is India's largest trading partner bloc, with bilateral trade reaching USD 178.56 billion (exports worth USD 56.87 billion and imports valued at USD 121.68 billion) in 2024-25, accounting for 15.42 per cent of India's global trade.

In the last five years, India's trade with the GCC has expanded steadily, registering an annual average growth rate of 15.3 per cent.

This marks a major step toward deeper collaboration in key strategic areas, including trade in goods, customs procedures, services, digital trade, cutting-edge technologies, and enhanced investment flows between India and the six GCC member nations, Goyal said.

GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

India has already implemented a free trade pact with the UAE in May 2022. India and Oman also signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Muscat on December 18, 2025.

Key exports from India to GCC include engineering goods, rice, textiles, machinery, gems and jewellery.

Key sectors of imports from GCC primarily comprise crude oil, LNG, petrochemicals, and precious metals such as gold.

Collectively, GCC countries represent a market of 61.5 million people (2024) and USD 2.3 trillion in terms of GDP at current prices, ranking 9th globally in this category.

The GCC region is also a significant source of foreign direct investment for India, with cumulative investments exceeding USD 31.14 billion as on September 2025.

GCC is also home to nearly ten million members of the Indian community.

The launch of FTA talks with the GCC is a resumption of the negotiations, as the earlier two rounds of negotiations were held in 2006 and 2008 between the two regions. The third round did not happen as GCC deferred its negotiations with all countries and economic groups.

India imports predominantly crude oil and natural gas from Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and exports pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, metals, imitation jewellery, electrical machinery, iron and steel, and chemicals to these countries.

India's exports to the GCC grew by about one per cent to USD 57 billion in 2024-25 against USD 56.32 billion in 2023-24. Imports rose by 15.33 per cent to USD 121.7 billion in 2024-25 from USD 105.5 billion in 2023-24.

Bilateral trade has increased to USD 178.7 billion in 2024-25 from USD 161.82 billion in 2023-24.