ISDS Case Map
GCC
GCC and EU foreign ministers will hold crucial talks in New York next month to remove obstacles hindering a free-trade agreement between the two groups.
On the lines of its successful "Look East" policy to promote trade and investment with its Asian neighbours, India aims to adopt a similar policy for West Asia, an external affairs ministry official said here Tuesday.
India will begin negotiations with the GCC as a single bloc as well as with individual member countries of the GCC for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement, covering the service sector and investment, along the lines of the pact signed between India and Singapore recently.
"We are looking at something more than FTAs. We would like to sign CECAs with the Gulf states. They are an important area of foreign policy," the Indian Prime Minister Office sources said.
Recently, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) negotiations are being held between the GCC countries and the USA. Being crucial sectors in these countries' economies, the banking and financial sectors are being considered for liberalisation in the context of these FTAs.
India will explore a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and explore opportunities with individual countries in the Arab world for greater cooperation in the services sector.
The way to counter the momentum of the US bilateral push would be to quickly bring to conclusion the deal between the GCC and the EU and through such a mechanism reinvigorate the multilateral approach to regional relations.
The wise decision adopted by the GCC Finance and Economy Ministers to exclude the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) signed or expected to be signed with the United States from the Gulf agreement concerning unified customs tariffs is considered a prudent decision that serves the interest of enhancing Gulf economic co-operation and integration.
Gulf Arab efforts to defend a customs union suffered a setback after the United Arab Emirates refused to sign an accord barring bilateral trade deals except with the United States, Gulf sources said yesterday.
The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Atiyya, has said that the next GCC summit in Abu Dhabi would boost the GCC march and joint economic work, particularly in the area of ensuring the implementation of the customs union and expediting steps towards the implementation of a Gulf Common Market.
