{"id":81922,"date":"2026-08-19T18:26:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T12:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=81922"},"modified":"2026-08-19T18:27:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T12:57:01","slug":"indias-trade-agreements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/19-08-2026\/indias-trade-agreements","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Trade Agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/IR\/GS3\/Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s FTA journey is moving from expanding its <strong>network of agreements to making fuller use of the market access.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a<strong> pact between two or more countries where they agree to:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reduce or eliminate customs duties on goods;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Liberalise trade in services;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide investment protection;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure safeguards for intellectual property rights (IPR).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Highlights of India\u2019s Recent FTAs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"dfe5e8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"602\" height=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-158.png\" alt=\"FTA\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-81923\" style=\"--dominant-color: #dfe5e8; aspect-ratio:1.5842996956986595;width:490px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-158.png 602w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-158-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In FY 2025-26, <\/strong>combined merchandise and services exports reached a <strong>record US$ 863.1 billion,<\/strong> including merchandise exports of US$ 441.8 billion.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>UAE and Australia illustrate the early progress <\/strong>under India\u2019s recent trade agreements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India-UAE CEPA (2022):<\/strong> India exported merchandise worth US$ 37,359.11 million to the UAE in FY 2025-26.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Among India\u2019s trade agreements, the<strong> UAE was India\u2019s largest export destination.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bilateral trade crossed US$ 100.06 billion <\/strong>in FY 2024-25, recording a <strong>19.6% growth.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India and the UAE set a new target of <strong>doubling trade to US$ 200 billion by 2032.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India-Australia ECTA (2022): <\/strong>Total bilateral trade reached US$ 24.1 billion in FY 2024-25.\u00a0 India\u2019s exports to Australia have increased from <strong>US$ 4 billion in FY 2020-21 to US$ 7.28 billion in FY 2025-26,<\/strong> recording<strong> 80%+ growth.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>From 2026 onwards, all Indian exports are<strong> now eligible for zero-duty access to the Australian market.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of FTAs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Facilitating Exporters\u2019 Access to FTA Benefits: <\/strong>A trade agreement opens preferential market access, exporters generally need to provide proof of origin for their goods.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>A preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO)<\/strong> confirms that the goods meet the prescribed rules of origin. <strong>This allows qualifying goods to receive reduced or zero customs duties.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A Wider Range of Products Reaching FTA Markets: <\/strong>The reach of an FTA is also reflected in the range of products entering partner markets. This product-level expansion is visible across several of India\u2019s recent agreements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Market Access:<\/strong> These agreements expand market access across several labour-intensive sectors.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wider opportunities in these sectors enable smaller producers and local enterprises to participate more actively in international trade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gains in Service Sector:<\/strong> India\u2019s recent FTAs have expanded opportunities for service providers and professionals.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Services account for nearly 30% of India\u2019s employment and services exports stood at US$ 421.3 billion in FY 2025-26. Given its scale, the sector forms an important part of India\u2019s FTAs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As recent agreements enter a deeper phase of implementation,<strong> India is also widening its future trade agenda.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Around ten trade agreements are under discussion <\/strong>including new negotiations with the Eurasian Economic Union, Peru, Chile, Israel, Canada and Maldives.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Further, existing agreements such as the India-Korea CEPA and India-Sri Lanka ETCA are being upgraded.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As businesses make greater use of the access secured under these agreements, their impact will extend.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This will <strong>widen export participation, diversify trade and strengthen commercial relationships with partner markets.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressNoteDetails.aspx?NoteId=159588&amp;ModuleId=3&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India\u2019s FTA journey is moving from expanding its network of agreements to making fuller use of the market access. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> What is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)? <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a pact between two or more countries where they agree to: <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Reduce or eliminate customs duties on goods; <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/19-08-2026\/indias-trade-agreements\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81922"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81925,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81922\/revisions\/81925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}