India Launches Free Trade Talks with GCC and Israel

In late February 2026, India launched two major trade initiatives to expand its global economic footprint. In New Delhi, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi signed a joint statement on February 24 formally launching negotiations for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council. This agreement, building on terms signed February 5, targets the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers across goods, services, and digital trade. The GCC is currently India's largest trading partner bloc, with bilateral trade totaling $178.56 billion in FY 2024-25.

Simultaneously, India and Israel commenced the first round of FTA negotiations in New Delhi from February 23 to 26. These talks follow a period of stagnation after eight rounds ended in 2021. Technical experts are focusing on intellectual property, customs procedures, and high-technology sectors such as AI and cybersecurity to reverse a dip in bilateral trade, which fell to $3.62 billion in FY 2024-25.

These diplomatic efforts coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Israel on February 25-26. During his visit, Modi addressed the Knesset and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to review the India-Israel Strategic Partnership. Israeli Special Envoy Fleur Hassan-Nahoum emphasized that an alliance in artificial intelligence could reshape the future of technology, combining Israel's talent concentration with India's innovation hubs in Bangalore.