India and the six-nation bloc of Middle Eastern nations -- the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have inked the Joint Statement on the India-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and launched negotiations for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement. The agreement was signed between Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal and Secretary General of GCC Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi. Goyal emphasized that the agreement would harness mutual synergies and complementarities between India and GCC amidst global uncertainties. Besides, Secretary General of GCC highlighted that FTA will serve as an important tool to further strengthen trade and investment ties between India and GCC countries by infusing predictability and certainty for businesses.

As India and the GCC countries share longstanding historical ties in trade and commerce, the FTA hold significant potential to boost the trade further.  GCC is India's largest trading partner bloc, which accounted for 15.42% of India’s global trade in FY 2024-25. During the period, bilateral trade between India and GCC stood at $178.56 billion. In the last five years, India’s trade with the GCC has expanded steadily with an annual average growth rate of 15.3%. The key exports from India to GCC include engineering goods, rice, textiles, machinery, gems and jewelry. On the other hand, India imports crude oil, LNG, petrochemicals, and precious metals such as gold from GCC.

Moreover, GCC region accounts for significant chuck for FDI coming into India, with cumulative investments exceeding $31.14 billion as on September 2025. The region also home to nearly 10 million members of the Indian community acting as a living bridge between both sides. The India-GCC FTA is expected to unlock the full potential of trade between India and the GCC and would be a force multiplier for global good, while facilitating the expansion and diversification of exports and strengthening economic integration between the two sides.