Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and Japan have discussed reviewing their current trade pact, with both sides looking to work towards further expanding the scope and providing new opportunities for this relationship to grow. Goyal, who is on a four-day official visit to Japan from August 24, is leading a large business delegation of over 200 representatives from different sectors. India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into effect from August 1, 2011. The CEPA review is a long-pending demand of India to balance the bilateral trade.
The minister said ‘we haven't got down to work on terms of reference, but I think once the teams have discussed, we will be open to expanding the scope, scale and the extent of the engagement because Japan today is one of our most strategic partners.’ He said both countries have big plans to strengthen the partnership, and added that both sides have also discussed the importance of balanced trade.
Bilateral trade between India and Japan grew 9.18 per cent to $27.47 billion (exports of $6.03 billion and imports of $21.43 billion) in 2025-26 from $25.16 billion in 2024-25. The trade deficit between the countries increased to $15.4 billion in FY26 from $12.66 billion in FY25. The deficit stood at $12.53 billion in FY24 and $11 billion in FY23.
