India close to trade deal with Chile

New Delhi: India and Chile are close to concluding a bilateral comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with four rounds of talks already having been completed on the issue, Chile’s Ambassador, Juan Angulo, said on Monday. The agreement would boost bilateral trade and investments as well as services, the envoy said.

"We hope that with the CEPA negotiations, we will increase the presence of more companies and industries from Chile and India in terms of investments," he added.

The decision to sign a CEPA was taken at a meeting between Chile’s President, Gabriel Boric, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in April 2025.

"I signed the terms of reference in May. And two weeks after that, we had the first round of negotiations in Santiago. Then we have had three rounds, so we finished the fourth round of negotiations very recently," the Ambassador said. "We are looking forward to ending this process soon, in the very last round of negotiations," he added.

India and Chile already have a preferential trade pact in place, and the CEPA will usher in a new phase in the bilateral economic relationship, he added. The envoy pointed out that Chile has been working in many areas to deepen and expand its relationship with India.

"The commercial part is one on CEPA, but we also have, for instance, agriculture. We signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of agriculturea couple of years ago, on the exchange of information and transfer of technologies. There are working groups meeting in that area," he added.