India To Resume FTA Talks With Chile & Peru In August; Focus on Critical Minerals

New Delhi, July 17 (KNN) India is set to hold the next round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with Chile and Peru in August, an official confirmed on Wednesday, according to The Financial Express. 

The talks are being conducted separately with each country.

The upcoming round with Chile will mark the second phase of discussions on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), while the round with Peru will be the eighth in the ongoing FTA negotiations. 

Both nations are viewed as key sources of critical minerals, with Chile already engaged in a bilateral mechanism on the subject and Peru recognised for its substantial copper reserves.

India and Chile finalised the Terms of Reference for the CEPA in May this year. 

The agreement aims to expand upon the existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) by covering a broader array of sectors including digital services, investment promotion, MSME collaboration, and critical mineral cooperation.

With Peru, negotiations will resume from where they left off in April 2023, following the seventh round of talks. 

That round covered a wide range of chapters including Trade in Goods and Services, Movement of Natural Persons, Rules of Origin, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Customs Procedures, Trade Remedies, Dispute Settlement, and Institutional Provisions.

Peru has emerged as India's third-largest trading partner in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Bilateral trade has grown from USD 66 million in 2003 to USD 3.68 billion in 2023. 

In the last financial year, India's exports to Peru stood at USD 1.0 billion, while imports reached USD 4.9 billion — of which USD 4.5 billion were attributed to pearls, precious and semi-precious stones.

India’s trade with Chile has also expanded, with imports totaling USD 2.6 billion in 2024–25. 

Key imports from Chile included fruits, nuts, and mineral ores, valued at USD 1.5 billion. During the same period, India’s exports to Chile stood at USD 1.1 billion, comprising primarily pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and machinery.

(KNN Bureau)