Changes in India's FTA Strategy

India's current FTA strategy is different from the past in two key ways:Shift in focus: Earlier, India prioritised FTAs with eastern countries like ASEAN, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Now, after completing key agreements in the east, India is focusing on FTAs with Western countries such as the UK, EU, USA, Switzerland, Norway, and Canada (though talks with Canada are on hold).Inclusion of new areas: Unlike earlier FTAs that mainly focused on trade in goods and services, agreements with developed countries now include non-trade areas like sustainable development, digital trade, intellectual property rights (IPR), labour, gender, MSMEs, government procurement, and competition.

How FTAs have performed?

Negotiating New subjects

New trade agreements often include rules on the........

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