To reduce its reliance on the US market, India has been expanding its trade diplomacy. After the Gulf Cooperation Council bloc-wide deal stalled, India signed a CEPA with the UAE.
UAE’s Ambassador to India Ahmed Albanna says new grouping that first met in Oct 2021 is ‘an offspring of Abraham Accord’, critical to combat threats to economic growth & stability.
UCBs accounted for 1.8% of total industry credit in September 2025—down from 2.2% five yrs ago—showing that they are losing ground to faster PSU banks.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
It would have been nicer if the author had also talked of India’s textile and apparel sector, which is among those hit hardest by the 50% tariff imposed by the United States on Indian goods, effective August 27. The US is the single-largest market for India’s textile and apparel items, with around 28% of these Indian goods being sold in the world’s No. 1 economy. India’s textile and apparel exports to the US in the financial year 2024-25 stood at nearly $11 billion.
It would have been nicer if the author had also talked of India’s textile and apparel sector, which is among those hit hardest by the 50% tariff imposed by the United States on Indian goods, effective August 27. The US is the single-largest market for India’s textile and apparel items, with around 28% of these Indian goods being sold in the world’s No. 1 economy. India’s textile and apparel exports to the US in the financial year 2024-25 stood at nearly $11 billion.