After playing coy with a few suitors and ditching one at the altar, India has now gone in for a makeover with a vengeance. In the free trade agreement (FTA) sweepstakes, it is playing the field and hooking up with as many as possible.
2022 is not even halfway through, yet India’s trade diary is chock-a-block with promising dates. The FTA with the UAE came on effect on May 1. A few days earlier, the early harvest FTA with Australia was sewn up. An agreement with Israel is almost sealed; another with the Gulf Co-operation Council (a union of the oil-rich Persian Gulf states) is next. The buzz is that the Saudis and Omanis would not mind separate bilateral deals. An over-enthusiastic UK, now that Brexit is over and done with, is pushing New…
