Overview
- At a December 23 brainstorming session in New Delhi, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal outlined plans to use free trade agreements to open foreign markets for Indian professional services.
- Officials pointed to the India–New Zealand pact’s reported allocation of 5,000 professional visas covering yoga instructors, chefs, Ayush practitioners, IT professionals, teachers, nurses and caregivers.
- India said recent trade agreements include commitments for easier norms and visa facilitation that would benefit chartered accountants, doctors, architects and other professionals.
- Follow-up work will focus on negotiating and utilising MRAs and MoUs, making sectoral regulations recognition‑ready, setting outcome metrics, and addressing data and privacy considerations.
- Professional bodies such as ICAI were urged to upskill members and build international chapters and conference links to capture demand, with services exports estimated at about USD 390 billion in 2024–25.