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The EU wants to make sure that the UK doesn’t walk away with all the benefits of remaining in the bloc while avoiding the bureaucratic challenges.

Though the relations have lots of potential areas of improvement, many challenges need to be overcome.

For New Delhi, the China FTA came as a surprise as less than a year earlier, Yameen had declared that Maldives’ first FTA, whenever signed, would on

The moment Chabahar opens, and Indian support becomes freely available, Afghanistan's dependency on Pakistan would reduce. This would provide Afghanis

The Centre seems to be keen on development of Free Trade Agreements with our East Asian and South-East Asian neighbours. The general idea floated in this context is: Trade is good. More is better. But, unbridled market force in the form of unbridled trade without the concomitant safeguards in regulation and risk management mechanisms might not be a wise idea.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was formed to foster socio-economic cooperation between its seven member nations – India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The group signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in 2004, but the pact is still not operational due to the lack of consensus on certain key issues. Some members like India are keen to finalise the terms of t

There is a strong case to be made for a deeper EU-India partnership against the backdrop of global uncertainties and ongoing wars, an assertive China, and the likelihood of a more transactional United States (US) under Trump 2.0. Meanwhile, the EU-India Roadmap to 2025 has run its course, and the EU-India summit of 2025 could be an opportune moment to release a fresh blueprint for cooperation. As the new European Commission’s agenda springs int

The latest developments from Africa.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has gained more importance recently because of the many hurdles that have come in the way of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) since 2016, mainly due to issues between India and Pakistan. This brief explores the possibilities of stronger trade and investment ties between the BIMSTEC nations by expediting the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (F

The British government's Integrated Review brought out in 2021 places a high priority on its partnership with India

British officials have been signalling that Brexit could augur well for trade ties between India and the EU as the two nations would find it easier to conclude a free trade pact without the involvement of the entire panoply of EU member states.

There is need for greater transparency in the Free Trade Agreement negotiations. There could be more information sharing with civil society groups and the general public so that the content of the negotiations would get public approval faster, making it easier to conclude the FTA.

This paper examines China and India’s economic engagements at the bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral levels. The evaluation is made in the context of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the mega-regional trade agreement in the east in which both nations are parties. The paper argues that irrespective of the nature of the two countries’ relationship, at its core is not cooperation, but mutual mistrust aggravated by Ch

In October 2019, China’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Mauritius opened the Chinese market to Mauritian exporters and investors. Not long after, concerns arose that Mauritius might be lacking in the capacity to benefit significantly from the agreement and thus lose in terms of a trade imbalance that clearly favours China. This brief revisits China’s motivations for the FTA, and finds economic and geopolitical goals. Given Mauritius’s smal

Beijing’s Southeast Asia outreach may complicate the U.S.’s efforts to build a coalition to isolate or deter China economically.

India and the European Union continue to struggle to conclude a bilateral Free Trade Agreement even a decade after the negotiations were first launched in 2007.

India pulled out of the planned Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2018 after entering negotiations in 2013. India has a trade deficit with 11 out of the 15 RCEP countries and some analysts have theorised that India decided to opt out of the agreement because of such adverse trade balance.  Indeed, India has a trade deficit with most of its trade partners in past free trade agreements (FTAs). It is in this context that this br

The normalisation of trade between India and Pakistan could lead to preferential trade arrangement under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement of 1996). This would increase regional trade and stability.

The US-led TPP would face increasing competition as China recently concluded a free trade agreement with Australia (ChAFTA) and South Korea and is pushing for a broader Asia-trade pact - Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Has India’s free trade agreement with the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) spurred India Inc.’s globalising drive eastwards? This region, after all, has recently emerged as a major destination for investments from Japan – which is widening its options due to its conflicts with China – and the US, with its so-called ‘pivot to Asia’. India’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN, which kicked off in January 20

In order to get an accurate picture of trade in India’s neighbourhood, one has to look beyond Free Trade Agreements.

With trade wars and financial realignments looming, India's success in this evolving landscape will depend on its ability to balance collaboration with autonomy

India and Sri Lanka are now working on a comprehensive economic agreement following the success of the Free Trade Agreement of 1999. This was stated by Sri Lanka's Minister for Export Promotion and International Trade,

The United States (US)-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered global trade patterns, revealing critical supply chain vulnerabilities. US tariffs pushed companies to shift manufacturing to more favourable locations, accelerating “friendshoring” to countries like India and Vietnam. The “China plus one” strategy has bolstered domestic manufacturing and attracted foreign investment through Production Linked Incentive

is paper formulates an analytical framework to assess the impacts of India's Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on commodity value chains. Existing academic literature have relied on examining Balance of Payments (BoP) to assess the impact of FTAs. is paper views such methodology as reductionist, and instead oers alternative lenses of the impacts on the commodity value chain. is paper brings into fold the concerns for the wellbeing of various stakehold

In the Trump 2.0 era, India’s pivot toward bilateral trade deals with trusted Western economies has become a necessity rather than a choice.

The visit has been mutually beneficial, especially with the signing/renewal of MoUs, adapting the Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership vision, and India’s offer of financial assistance.

The Maldives became the second country in South Asia, after Pakistan, to enter into a free trade agreement with China. The Yameen government pushed the FTA through the nation's Parliament, the Majlis, stealthily, with the opposition not attending the parliamentary session.

Trump 2.0 has given India-US ties a strategic uplift

China, Japan and South Korea have a long way to go in their trilateral free trade agreement. The road to an agreement is going to be long and complex. However, how this trilateral venture is going to be viewed by the US is to be watched with care and interest.

PM Modi's decision not to join RCEP is an admission that even the prospect of joining a massive regional trade agreement isn't incentive enough for New Delhi to launch deep economic reforms.

The African countries are set to launch the African Continental Free Trade Area or AfCFTA, the biggest free trade agreement in the world since the World Trade Organization was created in the 1990s. When implemented, the AfCFTA is projected to increase intra-African trade by 52.3 percent by 2022, from 2010 levels. In turn, higher trade levels can facilitate economic growth, transform domestic economies, and help the countries achieve the Sustainab

This brief examines the importance of economic integration between India and Sri Lanka in fostering both nations’ growth as well as regional stability. Their deep cultural, historical, and geographic ties support an evolving economic relationship driven by trade, investment, and connectivity. As Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner and investor, India plays a pivotal role in its economic recovery, particularly following Sri Lanka’s recent ec

This study discusses three major mega free trade agreements (the TPP, TTIP and the RCEP) and attempts to develop a strategy for India to navigate the repercussions engendered by these groupings and thereby safeguard India?s trade and sustain its economic growth.

The Maghreb, often considered part of the Arab world, straddles the Euro-Mediterranean region, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula—a location that has given it a distinct history, political landscape, economy, and development trajectory. It is also emerging as an arena for great-power contestations, and is rich in natural resources critical for green transition. Historically dominated by former colonial powers, the countries in the re

After a brief discussion on the uneasy relationship between Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO, the implications of the “deep” integration that the EU is seeking with India are discussed, and the respective positions, interests and concerns of the partners in the long drawn out negotiations are examined. The challenges for India in plunging into such “deep” territory, unprecedented in its history of bilateral or multilateral negotiatio

A US-China thaw increases the possibility of putting Beijing back in business at the expense of New Delhi

‘ट्रम्प २.०’च्या काळात भारताला विश्वासू पाश्चात्य अर्थव्यवस्थांसह द्विपक्षीयतेकडे केंद्र वळवणे निवडीपेक्षाही गरजेचे बनले आहे.  

चीन को लेकर डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प के दिमाग में क्या खिचड़ी पक रही है, इसका अनुमान लगाना आसान नहीं है. एक तरफ वे शी जिनपिंग की सराहना कर रहे हैं, दूसरी तरफ चीन को दुश्मन बताकर उस पर टै�