India seeks greater engagement with GCC after G20 commerce meeting

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, center, speaks at the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting in Jaipur on Aug 24, 2023. (India Ministry of Commerce and Industry)

• G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting held in Jaipur
• Arab nations are the country’s largest trading partner

JAIPUR, India: India is seeking greater trade engagement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, its commerce minister told Arab News on Thursday, as delegates gathered for the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting.
Held under India’s G20 presidency in the northern city of Jaipur, the meeting, which takes place from Aug. 24-25, is expected to feature talks on World Trade Organization reforms, and ongoing challenges to global trade logistics, investment, and integration of micro, small and medium enterprises into world commerce.
The Saudi delegation is led by Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, who held a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal ahead of the summit.
“It was a very, very useful engagement,” Goyal said. “A lot of decisions have been made, about which you will hear in the days to come.”
While Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20, India has invited to the ministerial meeting delegates from the UAE, Oman and Egypt, which are not G20 states.
Their presence is seen as reflecting New Delhi’s growing ties with Arab countries, which are India’s largest trading partner, with the volume of bilateral trade exceeding $240 billion during the financial year 2022-23.
The bulk of India’s trade has been with GCC countries, especially the UAE, with which New Delhi signed a free trade pact last year, and with Saudi Arabia.
“We have large investments coming from GCC countries,” Goyal said.
“Our relations with the Middle East (countries) are on the growth trajectory. We are in dialogue with many of the GCC countries, Middle Eastern countries, for greater engagement in trade and furthering the shared interests of prosperity for both the region and India.”
The minister was expecting the two-day summit to conclude on Friday, with various agreements in place.
“I have the confidence looking at the first session this morning that we will all be able to agree on a broad consensus on all trade-related issues,” he said.
“There’s been significant progress in the deliberations at various levels to come up with a strong outcome document.”