India and Chile have reiterated their strong commitment to concluding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations in a timely manner, recognising the strategic importance of strengthening bilateral economic ties.
The 4th round of India–Chile CEPA negotiations concluded successfully after five days of intensive and constructive engagement between the delegations, resulting in substantial progress across the chapters under discussion, according to the Commerce Ministry.
As part of the engagements, Claudia Sanhueza, Treasury Undersecretary in Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
“They underscored that the CEPA, once concluded, would play a pivotal role in boosting bilateral trade, deepening economic cooperation, enhancing market access, and creating new opportunities for businesses in both countries,” the ministry said.
The third round of CEPA negotiations had earlier been held in Santiago, Chile, from October 27–30, covering chapters including Trade in Goods and Services, Investment Promotion, Rules of Origin, Intellectual Property Rights, TBT/SPS measures, Economic Cooperation, and Critical Minerals.
Last month, India and Chile conducted their 9th Foreign Office Consultations in Santiago, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, connectivity, health and pharmaceuticals, traditional medicines, science and technology, mining and mineral exploration, defence, civil nuclear technologies, education, space, agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges.
During the consultations, India requested Chile to consider long-term agreements for the supply of mineral resources. Officials of both countries also agreed to diversify bilateral ties into emerging sectors of contemporary relevance, including Digital Public Infrastructure, innovation, and green energy, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
(IANS)
