Several GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia and Oman, may sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India ahead of the maiden West Asian Quad Summit scheduled for July 14. Oman is India’s oldest strategic partner in the region.
In the course of President Joe Biden’s tour to Israel and Saudi Arabia, the US, Israel, UAE, and India will host a virtual summit. On May 1, the UAE and India signed the CEPA, with the first consignment of goods arriving from India with tariff exemptions. This will help the West Asian Quadrilateral in its economic projects.
As per a senior official in UAE, the nation might welcome a wider GCC-India CEPA/FTA that includes a clause in UAE-India CEPA for allowing this.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy of UAE Abdalla Al Saleh said, “We wanted to move quickly to deliver a new generation of trade and investment deals that will open new markets, secure supply chains, and spur greater economic growth for our nation and the region and, now that three such deals have been concluded, we believe they can provide the framework for future deals with GCC”.
