Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday announced that India will resume negotiations for a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Piyush Goyal’s announcement comes just as India has sealed two major trade deals – one with the European Union and one with the US.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in a group photo during the signing of Terms of Reference (TOR) with GCC (6 Arab states- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) in New Delhi. (@PiyushGoyal X)The GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The talks with India come months after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia renewed their strategic partnership.
GCC FTA to boost trade and investmentAccording to the Union Commerce Minister, the FTA will strengthen ties between India and the GCC, which have been “trading with each other for over 5,000 years”.
The BJP leader also said that around 10 million Indians live and work there GCC regionwho in turn help strengthen the economies of these countries.
“It is most appropriate that we now enter into a stronger and stronger trading system that will enable greater free flow of goods, services, bring predictability and stability to policies, help encourage greater investment,” Goyal added.
More Read
Within the GCC, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are India’s largest trading partners.
Focus on Pak deal with SaudiA few months later, talks between the GCC and India resumed Saudi Arabia and Pakistan Signed their defense pact.
In September 2025, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA), reviving an old strategic cooperative arrangement between Islamabad and Riyadh. The agreement was signed months after a military standoff between India and Pakistan under ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Also Read | Pak-Saudi defense pact and its implications for India
From 7 to 10 May, India and Pakistan were locked in a cross-border standoff after New Delhi launched a trilateral strike on Pakistan as part of its response to the Pahalgam attack.
On April 22, 2025, 26 tourists were shot dead in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Of the 26 killed, 25 were Indians and one was a Nepali tourist. India has blamed the Pakistan-based LeT off-shoot The Resistance Front for the attack.
Pak-UAE ties?Soon after UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to India, the UAE scrapped a major deal with Pakistan.
According to a report in The Express Tribune, the UAE has canceled the contract with Pakistan to operate the Islamabad International Airport after it failed to identify a local partner to whom the operations could be outsourced.
“The Pakistani side sent a final call letter seeking a clear response from the UAE. In response, the UAE said it was yet to confirm any nominated entity,” sources told the Pakistani daily.
More Read
Relations between the UAE and Pakistan warmed further after Islamabad signed a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia.
Moreover, the UAE’s growing relationship with India has also become a thorn in Pakistan’s side, in particular Al Nahyan’s short but important visit to New Delhi.
Also Read | He came, met Modi, left: UAE president’s ‘3-hour’ visit to Delhi that created buzz
Hours after the visit, India and the UAE agreed to increase cooperation and double bilateral trade to a target of US$200 billion by 2032.
