Balance of trade skewed in favour of China needs a reset says India’s Foreign Secretary
DHARAMSALA, 1 March: The balance of trade between India and China skewed in favour of China needs a reset, India’s Foreign Secretary has said on Sunday.
“The current bilateral trade with China at $78 billion is heavily tilted in the latter’s favour and that will need a reset,” media reports quoted India’s Foreign Secretary H.V. Shringla as saying at the penultimate panel discussion titled ‘India as Global Partner’ at the fifth Asia Economic Dialogue (AED) 2021.
The Indian Foreign Secretary has also said in his address at the event jointly hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Pune International Centre (PIC) that “India on its part is simultaneously working on diversifying its sourcing to ensure a more resilient supply chain in the future,” said the Foreign Secretary.”
As per the provisional data from India’s commerce ministry, China has again emerged as India’s biggest trade partner in 2020 and in the first half of the financial year 2020 after replacing the US which held the position since 2018-19.
However, Shringla has added that a normal bilateral trade relationship with China was dependent on peace and tranquillity on other fronts.
“While China continues to be one of India’s most important trade partners, the balance of trade is skewed in favour of the former. With recent disturbances in eastern Ladakh and the ongoing process of disengagement, there is introspection on our part in making our supply chain more resilient… a normal bilateral relationship with China is calibrated on peace and tranquillity on other fronts,” he has said.
