India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have signed the Terms of Reference for a Free Trade Agreement in New Delhi today. Presiding over the ceremony, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India’s agreement for a free trade agreement with the six GCC countries will open another major trade corridor. Mr Goyal noted that India will soon announce the first tranche of a trade deal agreed with the United States. He said that the India-US bilateral will be the 9th FTA.

 

The Minister said that the time has come for India and GCC countries to enter into a formal agreement. He said that the India GCC FTA can support diversification and growth of India’s energy sources, strengthening long-term supply security and trade expansion. He noted that currently, the trade between India and GCC stands at 170 billion dollars, and around 10 million Indians live and work in GCC nations. Mr Goyal underlined that the free trade agreement between India and GCC will benefit India’s food processing, infrastructure, petrochemical, and ICT sectors, taking the relationship between the two sides to great heights.