India ramps up efforts to reduce reliance on China

India is planning to expedite efforts to reduce its import reliance on China amid Beijing’s growing aggression along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). As part of this strategy, New Delhi is going to ramp up trade cooperation with several countries in the west and other regions. While India is increasing engagement with the UK, European Union (EU) and Canada in a bid to sign the Free Trade Agreement in 2023, it is also working on enhancing business and trade cooperation with various other countries in different formats.   

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday made an important statement in this context. At a function in Mumbai, the minister said he expects at least two more free trade agreements to be signed up in 2023. “Negotiations are scheduled with the UK, European Union and Canada,” Goyal said. 

Diplomatic sources see it as an indication about India’s on-going efforts to ramp up trade ties with the key countries in the west and other regions of the world so as to reduce import reliance on China. “The Modi government is keen that India’s own manufacturing capacity is built and developed tremendously as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission,” sources said. A diplomat told The Daily Guardian, “The Indian government is working hard to ensure that India achieves the ability to export manufactured products to China.”   

In a significant development, the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement signed in April this year finally came into force on Thursday. Goyal said that FTA with Australia would benefit a slew of sectors, including textiles, gems and jewellery and information technology which get aided by the dropping of double taxation.  He expected Indian IT companies’ billing to Australia alone to grow to $1 billion in the next 5.7 years from $ 200 million. 

“China is one of the factors that India is keeping in mind while accelerating efforts to grow trade ties with western countries. India’s agenda to sign some more FTAs is part of the same strategy,” sources said. 

Goyal further said that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which India walked out of in 2019, would have become a free trade agreement with China in effect. 

“Indian industry was “petrified” with the earlier UPA government›s move to start negotiations on the same,” he added. He called the walkout an economically prudent and wise decision. As of now, with the agreement with Australia, India has separately struck trade agreements with 13 of the 15 countries in the RCEP, while only New Zealand and China remain