Archive · 12 Aug 2026
India Commerce Secretary to visit Chile to review CEPA talks
A trade deal is an agreement between two countries to make buying and selling things easier.
India and Chile are working on a special trade deal called a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA for short.
India's Commerce Secretary, Rajesh Agrawal, is going to Chile to check how the talks are going.
The talks had stopped for a little while because Chile got a new leader, President José Antonio Kast.
India really wants to get minerals like lithium and copper from Chile.
These minerals are used to make electric car batteries and solar panels.
India is worried that if Chile suddenly stops selling them, India won't have enough, so the new deal has a special part about minerals.
The two countries already trade a lot, with total trade reaching $5.38 billion in 2025.
India is also talking to other countries in South America, like the Mercosur group, about similar deals.
Both countries hope the new deal will make trading easier and safer.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal will travel to Chile later this month to assess progress on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The visit is the first high-level engagement since four rounds of formal negotiations concluded in New Delhi last December, after talks paused following Chile's elections and the March 11 assumption of the presidency by José Antonio Kast.
India's priority in the CEPA is securing stable supply chains for critical minerals such as lithium and copper, key inputs for its electric vehicle battery and renewable energy sectors.
Bilateral trade between India and Chile jumped from $3.84 billion in 2024 to $5.38 billion in 2025, with Indian imports from Chile surging 53% to $3.97 billion.
India is simultaneously moving ahead on expanding its Preferential Trade Agreement with the Mercosur bloc and evaluating potential PTAs with Mexico and Kenya.
- Who
- India's Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, who will meet with Chilean counterparts; Chile's new Conservative President José Antonio Kast, who took office on March 11.
- What
- A visit to review progress on the proposed India-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which includes a dedicated chapter on critical and strategic minerals such as lithium and copper.
- When
- Later this month, following Chile's December elections and four rounds of negotiations that concluded in New Delhi last December.
- Where
- Chile, including its capital Santiago; earlier negotiation rounds were held in New Delhi, India.
- Why
- To secure stable supply chains for critical minerals essential to India's electric vehicle battery manufacturing and renewable energy targets, and to deepen a trade relationship that reached $5.38 billion in 2025.
- Proposed agreement
- Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Chile
- Current framework
- Expanded Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), in force since 2017
- PTA tariff lines
- Expanded from 474 lines (2006) to 2,829 lines (2016)
- Bilateral trade 2025
- $5.38 billion, up from $3.84 billion in 2024
- Indian exports to Chile 2025
- $1.41 billion, up 14%
- Indian imports from Chile 2025
- $3.97 billion, up 53%
- Key minerals involved
- Lithium, copper, molybdenum, iodine
- Chile's trade ranking
- India's fifth-largest trading partner in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region