India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a bilateral “comprehensive” trade pact on Friday. Announcing the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the biggest trade pact of the last seven years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed investment from the Gulf country into Jammu and Kashmir and said the initiative would open new routes for regional trade and connectivity and advance “collective interests” of India, Israel, the UAE and the United States. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the CEPA would have strong anti-dumping measures.
“This agreement will herald a new age in our financial relations. Our trade in the next five years will increase from $60 billion to $100 billion,” said Mr. Modi, thanking Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan who participated in the summit virtually.
