Trade Deals · FTAs

India signed a first wave of trade pacts between 2005 and 2011 — Singapore, ASEAN, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan. Then came a long pause: for almost a decade India signed no major new deal, and in November 2019 it stayed out of RCEP, saying the deal did not address India's outstanding concerns. The freeze broke in 2021.

Since 2021 India has moved fast: Mauritius (2021, its first with an African nation), the UAE CEPA (2022, negotiated in just 88 days), Australia's ECTA (2022), the EFTA TEPA (signed 2024, in force October 2025, aiming for $100 billion of investment over 15 years), the UK CETA (signed July 2025, in force 15 July 2026, 99% duty-free access), Oman (signed December 2025, in force 1 June 2026), New Zealand (concluded December 2025, signed 27 April 2026) and the landmark EU deal (concluded 27 January 2026). A framework for a US interim agreement followed in February 2026.

The agreements cut tariffs on Indian textiles, gems, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals and processed food, and increasingly open mobility for Indian professionals, students and workers. India-UAE trade crossed $100 billion in 2024-25, within three years of the CEPA taking effect; the UK deal aims to double bilateral trade of about $56 billion by 2030. Dairy, agriculture and other sensitive sectors were protected.

A free-trade agreement is a negotiated deal where two countries cut tariffs and ease rules on each other's goods, services and investment — so an Indian exporter faces lower duties abroad, and foreign firms find India easier to enter. India, historically cautious about FTAs, now negotiates them selectively: protecting sensitive sectors (like dairy and farming) while opening others (textiles, gems, services), and using each deal as a template for the next.

After years of caution, India signed a wave of deals — the UAE (2022), Australia (2022), EFTA (2024, aiming for $100 billion of investment over 15 years) and the UK CETA (signed 2025, in force July 2026, aiming to double trade by 2030). Then came the India-EU agreement, concluded on 27 January 2026, linking the world's 4th and 2nd largest economies, about a quarter of global GDP, with a Security and Defence Partnership signed the same day. The focus now is making every deal work harder, with a nationwide push to help exporters, especially MSMEs, use the duty-free access these agreements unlock.

The India-EU Free Trade Agreement is among the most consequential India has concluded. Talks stalled in 2013, relaunched in June 2022, and concluded on 27 January 2026 in New Delhi. India and the EU are the world's 4th and 2nd largest economies, together about 25% of global GDP; the EU is among India's largest trading partners, with goods trade of $136.5 billion in 2024-25 and services trade of $83.1 billion in 2024, and the deal gives preferential treatment across 97% of EU tariff lines, covering about 99.5% of trade value. It awaits implementation. For Indian exporters it opens duty-free access in textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, chemicals and processed food; for services it addresses professional mobility and recognition of qualifications, long the hardest chapter to negotiate.

9 trade deals spanning 38 countries since 2021 (PIB, March 2026), from Mauritius (2021) to the EU (concluded January 2026) and a US interim framework (February 2026); 6 in force as of August 2026; UAE merchandise trade $101.25 bn (2025-26); UK goal: double ~$56 bn of trade by 2030. Source: Ministry of Commerce / PIB.