India starts pursuing free trade, but China has to be excluded from it
India is now rapidly increasing its trade network, in contrast to the slow stance in the past. However, India must understand clearly that, no matter what China must be excluded from this FREE TRADE.
This has to be done in spite of knowing that China presently is the world’s second-largest economy and biggest trading nation. Therefore China will seriously try and hamper India’s quest for influence in global trade.
India had recently started free trade agreement negotiations with the UK, with the first round of talks expected to start next week, according to a statement from the UK’s Department for International Trade.
A few days earlier, India agreed to remove a decades-old barrier to allow imports of US pork and pork products to its market. India is in the midst of negotiations for an interim free trade agreement with Australia. It has initiated similar talks with the EU and Canada. New Delhi also hopes to ink a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates in early 2022, according to Indian media reports.
The developments seem to be a far cry from the Indian government’s previous wariness and resistance to free trade deals. It was because since the BJP Government has taken over in 2014, they were preparing the ground for such deals on our own terms.
India rightly opted to pull out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, because of concerns that a considerable tariff cut would deal a severe blow to its domestic agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
But now not Only the Indian government fully confident but So is the Indian corporate Sector. So India has changed its stance on free trade deals, because it finally has decided to regain its past glory as number one trader of the World.
It is also worth noting that historically China has always been The number two to India. However both always traded peacefully along with others in Indo Pacific, South East Asia and rest of Asia for centuries. Now India us once again inclined to build a trading system that can resist and beat back economic coercive influence of any other economic or military power. In this sense, India’s trade efforts could be seen as a sign of its intention to counter economic influence of outside powers in the region, especially through the RCEP.
China may not be liking this. However what they need to understand is that Indian trade actually does not conflict with China’s ambition of remaining a big player in the global industrial chain.
Presently India is consolidating its own internal industrial chain and has started integrating into the South Asian industrial chain, Gulf Industrial Chain and individually with ASEAN countries and Indo Pacific countries. It is also looking at Euro Union, Russia, Central Asia and North America. Africa and South America will also be covered soon.
India’s textile exports to the US surged in 2021, grabbing market share of Chinese textiles in the US amid China-US tensions. Similar is the case between Australia and India after China declared a Trade War on Canberra.
However India has deliberately started we coupling from China in a phased manner. After Galwan, China has list our trust and there can be no business as usual. Chinese industry representatives and experts have started feeling the deteriorating business climate as New Delhi began curbs on foreign direct investment (FDI) from China into India.
The FDI rules, have been clearly targeted at Chinese companies. It is simple, India will not trade with China until they agree to Delmar ate the International Boundary between India and Tibet and another one between Tibet and China.
The Indian administration has been monitoring all investment proposals from companies that are either based in countries that share a land border with India or have an investor from one of these countries. We are quite averse to both Pakistan and China and we say it openly, without mincing any words.
India is not worried about losing large volumes of FDI from China. China too requires to invest in quality business otherwise they are free to invest in third rate companies. So the Chinese have to either worry a lot or come to the negotiating table and negotiate a final boundary.
