A trade dialogue nearly two decades in the making edged forward on Thursday, 6 August 2026, when Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal sat down with South Africa's Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, on the sidelines of the #BRICS2026 Trade Ministers' Meeting — and put the long-stalled India-SACU Preferential Trade Agreement back at the centre of the conversation.

India-SACU PTA: Reviving a 2007 promise

The proposed India-Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Preferential Trade Agreement was first formally launched in 2007 — making it one of India's oldest pending trade negotiation tracks with the African continent. SACU brings together South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini under a single customs bloc, meaning a deal here would open five markets at once for Indian exporters.

Goyal confirmed that the two sides discussed 'the signing of Terms of Reference for the India-SACU PTA and early conclusion of negotiations' — language that signals intent to formalise the negotiating framework rather than announce a concluded deal. The ToR signing, if it materialises, would mark a concrete procedural milestone after years of on-and-off engagement.

Critical minerals and pharma: the new urgency driving the talks

South Africa is not just a BRICS partner — it sits atop some of the world's most significant deposits of critical minerals, including platinum-group metals, manganese and chromium, all of which feed directly into India's clean-energy and advanced-manufacturing ambitions. Goyal noted that the two ministers 'explored opportunities for cooperation in critical minerals, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing sectors.'

For India, securing upstream access to African mineral supply chains has become a strategic imperative as global competition for these resources intensifies. Pharmaceuticals run in the other direction: India is already a major supplier of generic medicines to the African continent, and a preferential tariff framework with SACU could deepen that foothold significantly.

BRICS 2026 as a bilateral accelerator

The meeting is a reminder of how multilateral platforms do double duty — the BRICS Trade Ministers' Meeting gave Goyal and Tau a ready venue to advance a bilateral agenda that might otherwise wait months for a dedicated diplomatic window. India holds the BRICS chair in 2026, giving New Delhi additional leverage to set the pace of such engagements.

The next milestone to watch is whether the Terms of Reference are formally signed at or before the next BRICS summit, and whether a negotiating timeline for the PTA itself is made public.

After nearly two decades on the shelf, the India-SACU trade deal now has a ministerial push behind it — the question is whether the paperwork finally follows the handshake.