The terms of reference of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Qatar is expected to be finalised by next month as New Delhi seeks to secure preferential access to alternate markets for its exports after the US imposed 50% tariffs.
If the agreement is reached on the ToR then Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal could visit Doha to set the ball rolling on the negotiations, a senior official said Monday.
India-Qatar Trade Dynamics
The ToR of an FTA establishes the framework, scope, objectives, and procedures for the negotiations. India-Qatar bilateral trade of $ 14.14 billion is heavily tilted against India. Against India’s $ 1.68 billion exports, the imports from Qatar stood at $ 14.14.
Of the total imports, around $ 11.08 are just for petroleum articles, mainly natural gas. Other imports from Qatar are organic chemicals, fertilizers and plastics. Apart from trade, Qatar is also seeking investment opportunities in India. Qatar had committed investments of $10 billion to India and agreed to open an office of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) during the state visit of the Amir of the State of Qatar to India in February 2025.
India’s Expanding FTA Network
On Monday India and the European Union (EU) started the 13th round of their negotiations on the FTA.
The current round follows the visit of Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal to Brussels where he met his counterpart in the European Commission. Last week EC President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation where they reiterated their commitment to conclude the FTA by the end of this year. “To achieve this, progress is needed now,” she said..
The agreement with Oman is in its final stages while the negotiations with New Zealand are progressing at a fast pace, the official said. With Australia the talks on the second tranche of the negotiations are also progressing well so are negotiations with Chile and Peru. Even with the US the talks are open for the first tranche of The Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). “India’s international footprint is expanding,” the official added.
“There should be reciprocity and trade agreements should be equitable, fair and balanced,” the official said.
This FTA strategy supports the plan drawn up by the government to increase the number of counties on which it would focus on export promotion to 50 from 20 earlier.
Saudi Arabia, too, is interested through the six-member GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) bloc for a trade agreement. GCC members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
India and the five-nation Eurasian Economic Union bloc signed terms of reference to start formal negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement earlier this month. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.