India and Chile Conclude Fourth Round of Negotiations for Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

Original article: India y Chile cerraron cuarta ronda de negociaciones para avanzar en Acuerdo de Asociación Económica Integral

This Monday in New Delhi, India, International Economic Relations Undersecretary Claudia Sanhueza met with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, as part of the negotiation process for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that Chile is pursuing with the country.

It is important to note that the first step to strengthen trade and economic exchange with India, a global powerhouse with over 1.4 billion inhabitants, was the implementation of the Partial Scope Agreement (AAP) in 2007. This agreement was expanded in 2017, granting tariff preferences on 2,099 Indian products from Chile, while India reciprocated with preferences for 1,110 Chilean products.

During this meeting, held at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India, the fourth round of negotiations to advance the Agreement was successfully completed.

Following the meeting, Undersecretary Sanhueza stated, «Conversations between both countries are ongoing, and our primary goal, as Subrei and the Foreign Ministry, is to reach the best possible agreement for Chile. In this regard, the meeting with Minister Piyush Goyal was very fruitful, as it showed the willingness to continue making progress in the coming weeks.»

Sanhueza elaborated that «last week in New Delhi, a Chilean delegation, led by the Director General of Bilateral Economic Affairs at Subrei, Ricardo Mayer, and Chile’s chief negotiator, Pablo Urria, held technical meetings with their Indian counterparts, thus successfully wrapping up the fourth round of negotiations between the two economies regarding CEPA, culminating in the meeting with Minister Goyal.»

Chilean Delegation

The first round of this Agreement took place in May in India; the second round was conducted virtually in August; and the third meeting was held in late October in Santiago.

During this fourth round, the Chilean delegation was accompanied by representatives from the private sector, led by the President of the Chile-India Bilateral Business Council and head of Fruits of Chile, Iván Marambio, along with the International Director of Sofofa, Diego Torres; President of ChileNut, Juan Esteban Rodríguez; ChileNut Director, David Valenzuela; and the representative from the Salmon Council, Rodrigo Bustos.

They were joined by the Chilean Ambassador to India, Juan Angulo, who collectively held meetings at the India SME Forum with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Food Importers Forum of India (FIFI).

«In recent days, we actively participated in negotiations to advance a trade agreement with India, which will continue to unfold during January and February. This agreement has been a goal for Chile for several years, and we hope that after refining the technical aspects, the outcome will be favorable to significantly enhance our bilateral economic relationship,» said Iván Marambio.

Visit of President Boric

In April 2025, President Gabriel Boric made a historic visit to India, Chile’s seventh largest trading partner and the most populous nation in the world.

This was the third visit by a Chilean leader to the Asian country and the first in 16 years: «Opening new markets for Chile in the most populated country on the planet, with 1.4 billion people, the fifth largest economy in the world and soon to be the third; if we succeed, we would be the first Latin American country to have an agreement with India of this nature,» stated President Boric during that visit.

Check out a report on the Chilean President’s tour of India HERE (Presidency Press Bulletin)

El Ciudadano