India and the United Arab Emirates strengthened their economic partnership during the third Joint Committee meeting under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in New Delhi. Ajay Bhadoo, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, and Juma Al Kait, the UAE’s Assistant Undersecretary for International Trade Affairs, co-chaired the session. According to officials, bilateral commerce increased by 19.6% to USD 100.06 billion in FY 2024-25, maintaining the UAE’s status as India’s key trading partner.
The review covered several trade-related topics, including market access, data sharing, anti-dumping difficulties, and gold tariff rate quota (TRQ) allocation. India announced plans to implement a competitive bidding procedure for the Gold TRQ to increase transparency. Both countries discussed expanding trade beyond oil and precious metals, reaffirming their aim to reach USD 100 billion in non-oil trade by 2030.
Talks also focused on pharmaceutical regulatory collaboration, Certificate of Origin, BIS coordination, and an early agreement between APEDA and the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment on food safety and technical requirements. The meeting ended with both sides agreeing to improve data-sharing systems, simplify trade procedures, and hold a Services Subcommittee meeting.
