India, Feb. 5 -- Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday announced that India will be restarting talks for a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This announcement from Piyush Goyal comes just as India sealed two major trade deals - one with the European Union and one with the United States.

GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region which includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The negotiations with India also come months after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia renewed their strategic partnership.

As per the union commerce minister, the FTA will strengthen the relation between India and the GCC, which "have been trading amongst each other for over 5,000 years".

The BJP leader ...