India’s economy attracts attention for its size its rapid growth, for being the world’s third largest consumer market and for the total volume of foreign trade in goods and services. The rapid development of trade and economic ties between Russia and India (trade turnover has increased sixfold in five years) is an incentive to intensify the negotiation process on the conclusion of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the EAEU and India. Over the past decades, a feature of Indiaʼs trade policy with regard to the conclusion of RTAs has been expressed in the conclusion of bilateral FTAs mainly with relatively weak developing economies. In the current decade, the importance of multilateral RTA mega-formats in international trade is growing. In 2019, India refused to participate in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but in 2025 it concluded an FTA with the UK. Currently, the country is considering the possibility of concluding FTAs with the EAEU and the EU. The authors study the reasons for Indiaʼs cautious position on the conclusion of multilateral agreements with the EAEU, with the EU and with the RCEP countries, which, among other reasons, are explained by a low export quota (12.8%), a large trade deficit, low competitiveness of products of many national industries and their orientation mainly to the domestic consumer, and other problems of the development of the national economy. A distinctive feature of Indiaʼs modern trade policy is the search for an optimal solution to two opposite problems at the same time: opening and protecting the local market when concluding RTAs with regional organisations and large trading partners. The countryʼs insufficiently clearly defined position on this issue does not allow India to optimize the legal framework of its trade relations, becoming part of the global trend in the development of mega-regional RTAs and extracting maximum benefits in trade with the worldʼs leading economies. The conclusion of an agreement with the UK, as well as with the EAEU and the EU, could be the starting point of a proactive trade policy for India in a new format. 

This article was submitted 16.02.2025,approved for publication 12.11.2025

© Zuev V., Ostrovskaya E., Dyachenko N., 2026
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