India secured nine FTAs with 38 developed nations: Piyush Goyal
Highlighting India’s expanding global trade footprint, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India has concluded nine free trade agreements (FTAs) in recent years, covering 38 countries with strong per capita incomes. He said these agreements provide India with preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global markets by GDP and trade volume. He also said these pacts will help Indian goods, services, agricultural and fisheries products, and labour-intensive sectors reach new markets, integrate into global value chains and enhance talent mobility. He added that talks with Chile are wrapping up soon, and negotiations with Canada are about to kick off.
Talking about the recently-concluded AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the minister said the global response demonstrated the depth and maturity of India's innovation ecosystem and technological capabilities. On concerns around artificial intelligence (AI) and employment, he said AI would transform jobs by automating routine tasks rather than eliminate them entirely. He noted that India produces around 2.3 million STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates annually and possesses an unmatched pool of young, adaptable and ambitious talent.
Drawing parallels with the Y2K era, he described AI as the next inflection point that will create better opportunities, higher-value work, stronger exports and deeper global integration for Indian businesses, while also increasing demand for skilled professionals in areas such as cybersecurity, data protection and system governance.
