India, GCC set to pursue FTA talks

New Delhi: India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have agreed to pursue a free trade agreement (FTA) and resume the negotiations, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

GCC is a union of six countries — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The council is the largest trading bloc of India. India’s exports to the GCC member countries grew by over 58% to about $44 billion in 202122 against nearly $28 billion in 2020-21, according to commerce ministry data.