Indian Commerce Minister Meets Saudi Counterpart to Discuss Strengthening Trade Supply Chains
Detailed Analysis
India Seeks to Strengthen Supply Chains with Gulf Nations
India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a virtual meeting with Saudi Arabia's Trade Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qassabi on Saturday to discuss ways to mitigate the disruptions caused by the West Asia crisis. This comes after Goyal met with his counterparts from the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait, all of whom are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with which India is currently negotiating a free trade agreement.
The commerce ministry issued a statement following the meeting, noting that Goyal and Qassabi reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral trade and expressed optimism for early progress in the India-GCC FTA negotiations. Both sides acknowledged the strain the conflict has placed on regional supply chains and emphasized the need for coordinated efforts to ensure smooth trade flows.
Goyal highlighted India's efforts to support exports to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, which have been severely impacted by the conflict. The joint attack launched by the US and Israel on Iran has led to significant disruptions in the movement of ships in international waters, particularly to West Asian nations.
As a result, exporters have faced challenges in shipping goods to the Gulf region, with which India had a bilateral trade of USD 178 billion in 2024-25. This includes USD 56.87 billion in exports and USD 121.67 billion in imports. The major sectors under stress include petroleum products, chemicals and plastics, engineering goods, rice, pharma, and gems and jewellery.
| Sector | 2024-25 Exports (USD billion) | 2024-25 Imports (USD billion) | | --- | --- | --- | | Petroleum products | | | | Chemicals and plastics | | | | Engineering goods | 11.52 | 21.15 | | Rice | | | | Pharma | | | | Gems and jewellery | | |
Note: Data for rice and gems and jewellery exports and imports is not provided in the original text.
The six countries in the region are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait.
