India-Israel, GCC FTA talks temporarily stalled due to West Asia crisis: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: India's free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Israel and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bloc are "temporarily stalled" but the discussions with Canada are at a "very advanced" stage, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Monday.

"We're currently in negotiations, of course temporarily stalled with Israel, six-nation GCC bloc, but in active negotiations with Chile, Mexico, SACU, Eurasia bloc, expanded PTA with Mercosur, very advanced discussions with Canada," Goyal said at the India-Greece Business Forum.

Officials said earlier that the talks have been stalled due to the West Asia crisis.


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Mercosur bloc members are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

The SACU or South African Customs Union includes South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

Goyal said India has finalised nine free trade agreements (FTA) in the last three and a half years. These pacts cover 38 developed and prosperous countries including the UK, UAE, EFTA, Mauritius, Oman, Australia, and New Zealand.

India and Israel started the first round of FTA talks on February 24. At the same time, India and the GCC formally announced the launching of negotiations for a trade agreement.

Greece trade

On India-Greece trade, Goyal said the current $1.3 billion bilateral trade is low and both sides should work to increase it. There is a target to double it by 2030, he said.

Goyal suggested four areas to boost collaboration between companies of both countries. These include shipping and logistics, clean energy (solar, wind, offshore wind, green hydrogen, and nuclear power), technology, and processed food.

He said ties with Greece are important as India is aiming to grow its overall exports to $2 trillion in the next five years, up from $863 billion in FY26.

"And in the next five years, we hope to touch $2 trillion of exports," he said, adding "Greece has a history of a great maritime nation, controlling one-fifth of global shipping capacity and a fleet of nearly six thousand vessels".

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Goyal underlined that both sides can partner in shipbuilding, ship management, maritime finance, and port development.

"Technology is another promising frontier to explore cooperation in earth observation, satellite applications, space sciences," he said.

Maldives FTA

India and the Maldives Monday began negotiations for an FTA, the commerce department said in a social media post, adding that the discussions are currently being held in virtual mode and will continue till July 7.