Inside India’s new playbook on free trade deals

Synopsis India’s trade pacts have grown significantly. Early deals were small, but now they cover more products and investment. The country carefully protects key industries like agriculture. Recent agreements show a willingness to negotiate on new issues like digital trade. This shows India’s increasing experience and confidence in global trade. India has travelled a long distance since the early days of its free trade agreement (FTA) journey, which effectively began with a limited “early harvest scheme” with Thailand covering fewer than 100 products. The duty concessions extended under that pact led companies such as Honda and Sony to import gearboxes…