India UAE Relations: Making a big announcement on Thursday, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that talks regarding Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are going to start once again. This decision has been taken at a time when India has recently signed important trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
GCC is a group of six Gulf countries, which include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Piyush Goyal said that the trade relations between India and these countries are about 5000 years old. At present, about 1 crore Indians are living in these countries and making a big contribution to the economy there. The objective of this proposed agreement is to make the transaction of goods and services easier, increase investment and bring stability in policies.
Impact of Pakistan-Saudi defense agreement also
Talks between India and GCC are resuming at a time when the politics of the region remains very sensitive. In September 2025, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a ‘Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement’ (SMDA). This agreement came a few months after the military standoff between India and Pakistan in May 2025, which was called ‘Operation Vermillion’. It is noteworthy that in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April 2025, India had taken action against terrorist bases located in Pakistan.
uRelations between AE and Pakistan soured
While on one hand the relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are getting stronger, on the other hand there is tension in the relations between UAE and Pakistan. Shortly after the visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India, UAE canceled a major agreement with Pakistan.
According to the report of Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune, this deal related to the management of Islamabad International Airport was stopped because Pakistan could not decide on the name of any local partner. Quoting sources, it was told that the Pakistani side had last sent a letter asking for a clear answer, but UAE said that it has not been able to confirm any named company yet. It is being told that the distance between UAE and Pakistan has started increasing since Pakistan signed a defense agreement with Saudi Arabia.
India-UAE’s growing closeness
The recent visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Delhi has given a new height to the relations between India and UAE. A few hours after his short but important visit, both the countries decided that they will double their mutual trade to 200 billion dollars by 2032. UAE and Saudi Arabia are India’s biggest trading partners among the Gulf countries. Experts believe that on one hand, Pakistan’s increasing closeness with Saudi Arabia and on the other hand, UAE’s strengthening relations with India show that the priorities of the Gulf countries are now changing.
