{"id":277757,"date":"2024-01-13T19:07:39","date_gmt":"2024-01-13T13:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=277757"},"modified":"2024-01-13T19:35:50","modified_gmt":"2024-01-13T14:05:50","slug":"on-the-india-oman-free-trade-agreement-bridging-the-gulf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/on-the-india-oman-free-trade-agreement-bridging-the-gulf\/","title":{"rendered":"On the India-Oman Free Trade Agreement \u2013 Bridging The Gulf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:<\/strong> This post on the India-Oman Free Trade Agreement has been created based on the article \u201cBridging The Gulf\u201d<\/strong> published in \u201cBusiness Standard\u201d<\/strong> on 13th <\/sup>January 2024.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic: <\/strong>GS Paper 2 International Relations \u2013 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and\/or affecting India\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> The article discusses the status of trade between India and Oman and the Gulf. It also highlights the possible benefits and challenges arising due to the proposed India-Oman Free Trade Agreement.<\/p>\n

The text of the proposed trade agreement between India and Oman has been substantially concluded, indicating that a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) (a free trade agreement, or FTA) may be signed over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

What is the current status of trade between India and Oman and the Gulf?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Oman is India\u2019s 29th largest trading partner, but the 3rd largest export destination<\/strong> among the 6 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.<\/p>\n

India exports gasoline, iron and steel, electronics, and machinery to Oman, and imports petroleum products, urea, propylene, and ethylene polymers.<\/p>\n

Bilateral trade has been growing, increasing from $3.15 billion in 2021-22 (FY22) to $4.48 billion during FY23 (42% growth<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

The GCC countries contribute about 1\/6th of India\u2019s total trade. <\/strong>The trade balance, however, is in favour of the GCC (due to India\u2019s petroleum imports).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What could be the potential benefits of the India-Oman CEPA?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Facilitate Trade: <\/strong>It could substantially reduce the customs duties, and even bring them down to zero in some instances.<\/p>\n

Provide a Market for Indian Exports: <\/strong>Oman has a high per capita income of $25,060 (India\u2019s being $2,370). Thus, it could emerge as a market for more expensive exports from India.<\/p>\n

Strategic Outreach in the Gulf: <\/strong>India is looking to improve its relations with the Persian Gulf nations as a balancing act in the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas conflict.<\/p>\n

Balance Tilted in India\u2019s Favour: <\/strong>There is hardly any item sold by Oman that can threaten Indian industry. On the other hand, India might get important market access for its exports to Oman in the form of finished products.
\nFor instance, raw material from Oman such as petrochemicals, chemicals, and crude oil will enter India at a lower\/zero duty. In return, India will get market access for finished products such as engineering, chemicals, plastics, textiles.<\/p>\n

What are the challenges?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Limited Opportunities: <\/strong>Oman is a much smaller country than India, growth in trade between the two is expected to be limited. With a population of 1.4 billion, compared to Oman’s 5 million, India represents a much larger consumer market for Oman.<\/p>\n

Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The India-Oman Free Trade Agreement can act as a positive step not just for bilateral trade and the Indian export economy, but also India\u2019s strategic interests. Analyse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: This post on the India-Oman Free Trade Agreement has been created based on the article \u201cBridging The Gulf\u201d published in \u201cBusiness Standard\u201d on 13th January 2024. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 International Relations \u2013 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and\/or affecting India\u2019s interests. News: The article discusses the status… Continue reading On the India-Oman Free Trade Agreement \u2013 Bridging The Gulf<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,1235,9],"tags":[10503,212,239],"class_list":["post-277757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-international-relations","category-public","tag-business-standard","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-international-relations","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277757\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}