India
The Indian government is getting more active in seeking out bilateral trade agreements, mainly with other so-called developing countries.
Delhi has signed limited free trade agreements with Sri Lanka (1998) and Thailand (2003) plus a number of preferential trade agreements (tariff concession schemes) with countries/blocs such as Afghanistan, Nepal, Chile and Mercosur. At the end of June 2005, the government signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore, what many consider India’s first "comprehensive" FTA. India expects to upgrade its pact with Sri Lanka into a similar type of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. In 2009, India signed an FTA with ASEAN.
Currently, bilateral FTA negotiations are going on with the GCC, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Israel, New Zealand, Uruguay, Venezuela and Mauritius. Since 2007/2008, India commenced FTA talks with industrialised powerhouses Japan, EFTA and the EU. These are the deals that are generating the most controversy and resistance at home.
Further down the line, the government is in various stages of considering talks with Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Korea, Egypt, SACU (Southern African Customs Union), Russia, , Hong Kong and Australia.
India is also part of SAFTA (the South Asia FTA), BIMSTEC (aiming to develop an FTA) and IBSA (the India-Brazil-South Africa triangle aiming to develop a trilateral South-South FTA).
India’s growing business community is lobbying for an India-US FTA, but for the moment Washington and Delhi are still building their bilateral relations through a possible investment treaty as well as smaller sectoral deals.
last update: May 2012
Articles
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11-Sep-2012 Steel should be set aside from FTA with Japan and Korea: JSW Steel
In view of growing imports of steel from Japan and Korea into India, leading private sector firm JSW Steel today demanded removing steel from the purview of free trade pact with the two Asian economic superpowers. -
11-Sep-2012 ’Take steel out of FTA with Japan and Korea’
Worried over the growing import of cheap steel from Japan and South Korea, Indian steel giant JSW Steel, on Tuesday, demanded that steel be removed from the purview of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the two Asian economic powers. -
15-Aug-2012 Chile, India to hold free trade talks: official
Chile and India will begin negotiations on a free trade agreement at the end of the year, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno in a television interview Tuesday. -
8-Aug-2012 SME Times India, Chile set to expand PTA to increase trade
Ministers from India and Chile Tuesday decided to expand the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to increase trade between the two nations, informed ministry of commerce and industry. -
30-Jul-2012 Indo-Israel FTA likely by this year-end
The India and Israel Free Trade Agreement (Indo-Israel FTA) is likely to be signed by the end of this year or in the second quarter of next year, according to Yahel Vilan, minister and deputy chief of mission, Israel Embassy. -
26-Jul-2012 Economic Times New Zealand upset over India’s silence on opening farm and dairy sector to imports
The proposed free trade agreement between India and New Zealand has hit a speed breaker due to the Centre’s silence on opening the country’s dairy and farm goods sector to imports. -
26-Jul-2012 Economic Times Malaysia headquartered Axiata Group threatens Indian government with international arbitration
Malaysia headquartered Axiata Group, which holds about 20% stake in Idea Cellular has threatened claim damages and drag the Indian government to international arbitration under bilateral investment protection pacts (BIPA), making it the sixth international investor in the telecoms space to serve notice under bilateral trade agreements. -
23-Jul-2012 Hindu Business Line Israel loath to permit liberal access to skilled Indians
Israel has expressed reservations over India’s demand for easier movement of skilled professionals through a free trade agreement. -
19-Jul-2012 PTI India, Russia agree on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Belarus-Kazakhstan
With an aim to boost trade ties, India and Russia have agreed to jointly study a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Belarus-Kazakhstan and exuded confidence to acheive ambitious an trade target of $ 20 billion by 2015. -
12-Jul-2012 India, Peru consider free trade pact to boost trade
India and Peru are exploring the possibility of signing a free trade agreement (FTA) which would gradually eliminate tariffs on most of goods and services traded between the two countries. -
7-Jul-2012 Mauritius expresses interest for FTA with India
Mauritius on Friday expressed interest to start talks for a free trade agreement with India. -
19-Jun-2012 PharmaBiz NGOs express concern over ongoing US-India Bilateral Investment Treaty
A group of public interest organisations in India have expressed concern about the ongoing US-India Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). -
28-May-2012 India, Myanmar agree to step up trade & economic ties, fight terrorism
New Delhi/India today extended a $ 500 million line of credit to the Government of Myanmar as the two countries signed 12 agreements for cooperation in various areas and agreed on a vision for the future in the pursuit of the common good - bilaterally, regionally and globally. -
21-May-2012 Among Neighbours - How to energize India’s Look East policy
India has traditionally looked West for trade, investment, and economic cooperation. But since the late 1990s, trade policy rightly focused on the Look East policy, and recognized that India needs to become integrated into the cross-border production and trade networks in Asia. The immediate attention was towards South Asian integration. But since the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the South Asian Free Trade Area remained just on paper on account of the yet unresolved differences between India and Pakistan, the government simultaneously initiated trade agreements with Southeast Asia. -
11-May-2012 New York Times The treaty that could decide the Vodafone india tax case
As the British telecommunications company Vodafone Group and India’s finance ministry edge ever closer to a full-blown confrontation over taxes related to Vodafone’s $11.1 billion acquisition in India, a key issue may be the India-Netherlands Bilateral Investment Treaty, signed between the two governments in 1995. -
7-May-2012 La Estrella Chile firmará TLC con India, dice ministro de Agricultura
El ministro de Agricultura de Chile, Luis Mayol, afirmó hoy en Nueva Delhi que es probable que este año o el próximo se logre la suscripción de un Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) con la India, señalaron medios locales. -
1-May-2012 The Hindu Treaties that gave away the store
As India grapples with the Vodafone and 2G fallout, the Bilateral Investment Treaties it signed a few years ago are coming back to haunt it. -
24-Apr-2012 ’Now the agenda will be driven by businessmen: Commerce secretary’
Almost a year after he visited Pakistan to lay the foundation for a change in trade relations between the two neighbours, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar tells Sidhartha things have moved faster than anticipated. -
24-Apr-2012 New Zealand keen on free trade pact with India
Mr Richard White, New Zealand Trade Commissioner to India, has said his country is expecting to conclude the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India by next year. -
30-Mar-2012 First Post Voda seeks Netherlands treaty to snub govt, will others follow?
Fearing the Indian government will use new tax laws to trap it back around Rs 12,000 crore in taxes, the world’s largest mobile operator, Vodafone, may invoke a bilateral investment treaty between India and the Netherlands to avoid doing so.
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Forum against FTAs
The Forum is formed by trade unions, people movements and civil society organizations to campaign against the impact of free trade agreements on labour and livelihood rights of people in India. -
FTA Watch - India
A weekly digest on India’s Free Trade Agreements and alternatives to free trade, produced by Intercultural Resources -
India’s current engagement in RTAs
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