<p>India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have agreed to pursue a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two regions and resume the negotiations, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.</p>.<p>GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region -- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The council is the largest trading bloc of India.</p>.<p>India's exports to the GCC member countries grew by 58.26 per cent to about $44 billion in 2021-22 against $27.8 billion in 2020-21, according to data from the commerce ministry.</p>.<p>Bilateral trade in goods has increased to $154.73 billion in 2021-22 from $87.4 billion in 2020-21. Services trade between the two regions was valued at around $14 billion in 2021-22, with exports aggregated at $5.5 billion and imports at $8.3 billion.</p>.<p>"We have agreed to pursue the free trade agreement between GCC and India and resume the negotiations and conclude the same at the earliest," Goyal told reporters here in a joint press conference with GCC Secretary General Nayef Falah M Al-Hajraf here.</p>.<p>GCC countries contribute almost 35 per cent of India's oil imports and 70 per cent of its gas imports. India's overall crude oil imports from the GCC in 2021-22 were about $48 billion, while LNG and LPG imports in 2021-22 stood at about $21 billion.</p>.<p>Earlier in 2006 and 2008, both sides had negotiated a trade pact, which stopped because of some reasons.</p>.<p>When asked about the next round of talks to resume the negotiations, Goyal said teams of both sides would decide that.</p>
<p>India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have agreed to pursue a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two regions and resume the negotiations, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.</p>.<p>GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region -- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The council is the largest trading bloc of India.</p>.<p>India's exports to the GCC member countries grew by 58.26 per cent to about $44 billion in 2021-22 against $27.8 billion in 2020-21, according to data from the commerce ministry.</p>.<p>Bilateral trade in goods has increased to $154.73 billion in 2021-22 from $87.4 billion in 2020-21. Services trade between the two regions was valued at around $14 billion in 2021-22, with exports aggregated at $5.5 billion and imports at $8.3 billion.</p>.<p>"We have agreed to pursue the free trade agreement between GCC and India and resume the negotiations and conclude the same at the earliest," Goyal told reporters here in a joint press conference with GCC Secretary General Nayef Falah M Al-Hajraf here.</p>.<p>GCC countries contribute almost 35 per cent of India's oil imports and 70 per cent of its gas imports. India's overall crude oil imports from the GCC in 2021-22 were about $48 billion, while LNG and LPG imports in 2021-22 stood at about $21 billion.</p>.<p>Earlier in 2006 and 2008, both sides had negotiated a trade pact, which stopped because of some reasons.</p>.<p>When asked about the next round of talks to resume the negotiations, Goyal said teams of both sides would decide that.</p>