DEV Community: Harshit Agarwal

India Oman CEPA Live: Gulf Trade Finance Implications

Harshit Agarwal — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:52:32 +0000

The India Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) officially entered into force on 1st June 2026. This bilateral trade agreement grants immediate zero-duty access for 99.38% of Indian exports by value to Oman. It creates a secure, tariff-free economic corridor linking South Asia to the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and East African markets.

The operationalisation of the landmark India Oman CEPA trade agreement marks a milestone in Middle East supply chains.

The agreement was signed on 18th December 2025 in Muscat by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik Al Said. Following internal ratification processes, the trade pact became fully operational on 1st June 2026.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal and Omani Ambassador H.E. Issa Saleh Al Shibani marked the launch in New Delhi. The first commercial cargo consignments availing preferential tariff benefits were flagged off from Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. These initial shipments included agriculture, engineering goods, and gems and jewellery products.

For international banks and global trade corporations, this trade treaty restructures the cost metrics of doing business in the Gulf.

Comprehensive Tariff Elimination Analysis

The primary benefit of the India Oman CEPA trade agreement is the immediate reduction in cross-border transaction costs.

Omani Tariff Lines Cleared: Oman has eliminated import duties on 98.08% of its total tariff lines.

Export Value Impact: This coverage accounts for 99.38% of India’s exports to the country by value.

MFN Regime Shift: Under the previous Most Favoured Nation (MFN) regime, only 15.33% of Indian goods entered Omani ports duty-free. The remaining exports faced a standard 5% import tax.

Market Advantage: Indian exporters now secure a distinct price advantage in Oman’s 28 billion dollar import market.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/india-oman-cepa/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website-https://www.360tf.trade/

Maritime insurance and global trade: Institutional Backbone of Commerce

Harshit Agarwal — Fri, 22 May 2026 05:00:47 +0000

This article is the second part of a three-part series exploring the evolution of maritime insurance and its role in enabling global trade.

Maritime insurance marked a decisive shift in how global commerce was protected, financed, and sustained across oceans. What began as informal merchant risk-sharing gradually evolved into a structured system built on contracts, underwriting capital, and globally recognised standards.

The first article in this series explored the origins of maritime risk-sharing and early marine insurance.

The Evolution of Maritime Insurance with Global Trade

As international trade expanded across regions and oceans, maritime insurance evolved alongside it. Longer shipping routes, larger cargo values, and increasingly interconnected trade networks required more sophisticated methods of assessing and distributing risk.

What began as informal arrangements between merchants gradually developed into organised insurance systems supported by underwriting expertise, legal frameworks, and structured risk-sharing mechanisms. This transformation enabled maritime commerce to scale far beyond regional trade routes and laid the foundations for modern global trade.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/maritime-insurance-and-global-trade-history/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

India Total Exports FY 2025-26 Reach $860 Billion

Harshit Agarwal — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:42:42 +0000

India's total exports for FY 2025-26 reached a record $860.09 billion, marking a 4.22% rise over the previous year, even as merchandise shipments faced headwinds in the final month of the fiscal year. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry released the official trade data on 15 April 2026, confirming a resilient full-year performance anchored by a booming services sector and steady non-petroleum merchandise exports.

For exporters, importers, and trade finance professionals tracking India's global trade trajectory, the FY 2025-26 numbers paint a nuanced picture: strong structural growth in services and non-oil merchandise, a widened merchandise trade deficit, and notable shifts in key trading corridors.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/india-total-exports-fy-2025-26-860-billion/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

Understanding Supply Chain Finance: Reverse Factoring, Payables Finance, and What They Mean for Buyers and Suppliers

Harshit Agarwal — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:40:11 +0000

Supply chain finance is no longer a niche product, it is becoming a core pillar of how global trade is funded. Yet for many businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the terminology surrounding it remains confusing. Reverse factoring, payables finance, confirming, and supplier finance are often used interchangeably, though they broadly describe similar structures with regional variations.

In today’s environment, marked by extended payment cycles, tighter liquidity, and increasing geopolitical fragmentation, understanding these mechanisms is no longer optional. It is essential.

Why This Matters Now

Global trade is undergoing a structural shift. Supply chains are being reconfigured, payment terms are stretching, and access to affordable working capital remains uneven, especially for SMEs.

At the same time, businesses are seeking stability. Buyers want resilient supplier ecosystems, while suppliers need faster access to liquidity without increasing leverage. Supply chain finance (SCF) sits at the intersection of these needs, offering a model that aligns incentives across the value chain.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/supply-chain-finance-guide/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

The Origins of Maritime Insurance: When Trade First Learned to Manage Risk

Harshit Agarwal — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:37:48 +0000

Global trade has always been inseparable from risk. Long before formal financial systems existed, merchants moving goods across seas faced existential uncertainty, storms, piracy, shipwrecks, and geopolitical conflict could erase entire fortunes overnight.

The need to manage this uncertainty gave rise to some of the earliest financial innovations in history. What began as informal risk-sharing arrangements gradually evolved into structured mechanisms, laying the foundation for modern maritime insurance, a critical enabler of global trade today.

Early Trade Routes and the Risks of Sea Commerce

Maritime trade dates back over 4,000 years, with early networks connecting Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Mediterranean. These routes enabled the exchange of high-value goods such as spices, metals, textiles, and agricultural products.

Historical evidence suggests that these were high-value, low-volume trade systems, where a single shipment could represent a merchant’s entire working capital or several years of accumulated wealth.

Even today, over 80% of global trade by volume is transported by sea, underscoring the enduring centrality of shipping to global commerce.

However, maritime commerce has always operated in an environment of elevated risk:

Severe and unpredictable weather conditions

Limited navigation capabilities

Piracy and theft

Political conflicts across trading regions

Loss of cargo due to shipwrecks or spoilage

For merchants investing significant capital into a single voyage, the loss of a ship often meant complete financial ruin. This exposure created a fundamental need, to distribute risk rather than concentrate it.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/origins-maritime-insurance/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

Trade Notice on Factoring & Alternative Export Payment Mechanisms

Harshit Agarwal — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:35:21 +0000

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) launched a significant intervention on 20th February 2026 through Trade Notice No. 25/2025-26. This initiative, Support for Alternative Trade Instruments under the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) – NIRYAT PROTSAHAN, strengthens access to export finance for MSMEs. It specifically targets businesses involved in international value chains by providing structured support for alternative trade finance mechanisms.

Launching NIRYAT PROTSAHAN for MSMEs

The DGFT implements this support mechanism with immediate effect to enhance the competitiveness of small businesses. This mission supplements traditional bank-based export credit by focusing on export factoring. Furthermore, the government operationalises this intervention on a pilot basis to gather feedback and refine the process through data-driven insights. Annexure-I of the notice contains the detailed policy framework while Annexure-III outlines the governance structure.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/trade-notice-factoring-alternative-export-payment-mechanisms/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

From Bretton Woods to a Multipolar Future: Currency Power in Modern Global Trade (1945–2050)

Harshit Agarwal — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:33:29 +0000

In the earlier parts of this series, we explored how currency power first emerged through global silver flows and later consolidated through imperial trade networks and institutional finance. The post-1945 period represents a different phase altogether. Currency dominance became embedded within formal global systems, shaping how modern trade scaled, settled, and financed itself.

This era marks the transition from empire-led trade to institution-led globalisation. It is also the period that continues to define how exporters, importers, banks, and policymakers operate today, even as the global economy moves towards a more fragmented and technologically driven future.

Bretton Woods and the Systematisation of Currency Power

The end of the Second World War left the global economy in need of stability. The Bretton Woods agreement of 1944 established a new monetary framework anchored by the US Dollar, which was pegged to gold, while other major currencies were linked to the Dollar.

For global trade, this arrangement reduced uncertainty at scale. Exchange rate stability encouraged long-term contracts, cross-border investment, and the rebuilding of supply chains across Europe and Asia. The Dollar’s role expanded rapidly, not simply as a reserve currency, but as the preferred unit for trade invoicing, settlement, and financing.

Unlike earlier periods, currency power was no longer informal or corridor-based. It was codified through multilateral institutions, central banks, and payment systems. This institutional backing proved decisive. Even after the gold standard collapsed in the 1970s, the Dollar’s central role endured, reinforced by deep financial markets and global confidence in US-led settlement infrastructure.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/currency-power-global-trade-evolution/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

The Age of the Pound in Global Trade Finance

Harshit Agarwal — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:31:36 +0000

The age of the Pound in global trade finance marked a decisive shift in how international commerce was funded, settled, and governed. During the nineteenth century, industrialisation and institutional finance transformed trade from bullion-based exchange into a structured, scalable system built on trust, credit, and currency stability.

In the first blog of this series, we explored how early currency power between 1500 and 1800 laid the foundations for global trade through trust, liquidity, and settlement mechanisms. As trade expanded beyond precious metals and maritime exploration, these principles became embedded within formal financial institutions. This transition defined the nineteenth century and positioned the British Pound Sterling at the centre of global commerce.

From Industrialisation to Currency Leadership

By the early 1800s, global trade had entered a new phase. Industrial output replaced exploration as the primary driver of commerce, while organised supply chains increased the need for predictable settlement mechanisms. Trade volumes grew rapidly, and merchants required a currency that could support deferred payment, large transactions, and long-distance trade.

Sterling emerged as that currency. Its strength did not rely solely on metal backing, but on Britain’s industrial capacity, financial credibility, and institutional depth. Together, these factors allowed the Pound to anchor global trade for more than a century.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/age-of-the-pound-global-trade-finance/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

From Empires to Algorithms: Currency Power and the Origins of Global Trade Finance

Harshit Agarwal — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:28:43 +0000

Modern global trade is shaped by real-time payments, digital documentation, and interconnected financial systems. However, the foundations of today’s global trade finance system were laid centuries ago. Early currency power in global trade between 1500 and 1800 introduced patterns of trust, liquidity, and settlement that still influence cross-border commerce today.

Rather than viewing history as distant, these early monetary systems explain why certain currencies dominate global invoicing, why financial institutions matter, and how commercial confidence evolves across borders.

The Spanish Silver Dollar and Early Currency Power in Global Trade

The Spanish Silver Dollar, widely known as the piece of eight, marked one of the first truly global currencies. Its influence was driven not only by silver abundance but also by consistency. Between 1500 and 1800, Spanish America produced most of the world’s silver, with an estimated 30 percent eventually flowing into China. This circulation gave the Spanish peso unmatched global reach.

For merchants navigating long voyages and high risks, a universally accepted currency simplified trade. Prices could be set more confidently, contracts negotiated more easily, and settlements completed with fewer disputes. In many ways, this mirrors how modern reserve currencies stabilise international contracts and commodity pricing.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/early-currency-power-global-trade/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/

Redefining Global Trade: How Emerging Economies Are Reshaping the Maritime Landscape

Harshit Agarwal — Fri, 15 May 2026 07:29:45 +0000

As global supply chains evolve, the Indian Ocean region has emerged as one of the most dynamic and influential trade corridors. This concluding article in the Indian Ocean Corridor series brings together the structural insights from earlier pieces and the broader transformation shaping maritime trade, finance, and digital infrastructure.

A New Maritime Ecosystem Is Emerging

Historically, maritime trade was dominated by a few established global players. Today, emerging economies along the Indian Ocean rim are reshaping this landscape. Their focus is shifting from being transit points to becoming active contributors to global value chains.

Across the region, countries are modernising ports, digitising operations, building domestic maritime industries, and strengthening regulatory and financial frameworks. This transition reflects a growing ambition: not just to participate in trade, but to shape its architecture.

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The Western Indian Ocean Corridor: Bridging Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia

Harshit Agarwal — Fri, 15 May 2026 07:27:29 +0000

The Indian Ocean does more than connect continents, it connects opportunities. As global trade realigns towards emerging economies, the western arc of the Indian Ocean, stretching from the Gulf to the African coast and India’s western seaboard, has become one of the most dynamic trade corridors of the 21st century.

A Corridor of Growth and Connectivity

This maritime route binds three rapidly developing regions. These regions include the Middle East, South Asia, and East Africa. The route connects Dubai, Muscat, Mumbai, Mombasa, and Dar es Salaam.

India has emerged as a key trading partner for both Africa and the Gulf. In FY 2024–25, India–Africa trade crossed US$100 billion, up from about US$56 billion in 2019–20. India is also among the top five investors in Africa, with cumulative investments exceeding US$75 billion between 1996–2024.
Similarly, the Gulf states supply the energy that fuels Indian industry, while Indian pharmaceuticals, textiles, and food products move westward, reinforcing a corridor of mutual growth and interdependence.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/western-indian-ocean-corridor-trade-connectivity/

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The Indian Ocean: A Strategic Hub of Global Trade Corridors

Harshit Agarwal — Fri, 15 May 2026 07:24:31 +0000

The Indian Ocean has always been more than a body of water, it is the world’s commercial crossroads. Today, it carries a significant share of global maritime traffic. By linking Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, it connects some of the busiest and most strategic trade corridors on the planet. Every year, a large portion of global seaborne goods and energy flows pass through its waters. As a result, the Indian Ocean has become a critical artery for containerised trade, energy shipments, and supply chains that sustain modern economies.

The Ocean’s Global Significance

At the centre of global commerce, the Indian Ocean enables the seamless movement of energy, raw materials, and manufactured goods between fast-growing markets. For example, the Strait of Hormuz carries over a quarter of global seaborne oil flows. Similarly, the Bab el-Mandeb serves as the Red Sea gateway, while the Strait of Malacca links the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. These chokepoints are not only geographic bottlenecks but also financial and strategic flashpoints.

Any disruption, whether due to geopolitical tension, piracy, or port congestion translates into higher freight rates, inflated insurance premiums, and rising working capital costs. Consequently, businesses and financiers face immediate impacts whenever these trade arteries are disturbed.

The region’s ports also highlight its centrality. Singapore, Dubai, Mumbai, and Colombo rank among the most important transhipment and logistics hubs worldwide. Together, they handle tens of millions of containers and serve as gateways for energy and trade flows. For exporters and importers across Asia, Africa, and Europe, the Indian Ocean is not just another option, it is the backbone of their commercial lifelines.

For More Do read it From Our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/indian-ocean-strategic-global-trade-corridors/

For any trade finance queries, reach out to tia@360tf.trade or our Website - https://www.360tf.trade/