Article
Opportunities and Challenges in India's International Trade

By : V.S. Seshadri

Page No: 382-399

Abstract
The momentum generated by a significant rise in India’s exports in 2021-22 needs to be sustained despite the prevailing geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions. Indian industry also needs to come forward and fully avail of the recent initiatives launched by the government to build a strong and competitive export capacity and address the high level of trade deficit that India currently faces. It will also strengthen the economic security of the nation. For this goal to be realised, however, it is important to secure a conducive international trading framework. India is actively engaged in this task--both multilaterally on WTO reforms and bilaterally with friendly trade partners for concluding Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Further, India is discussing with its leading trade partner, the United States, several unsettled trade issues. Negotiations are also underway on the different pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). All these are intricate issues and in some ways interrelated. Some of them may also come up in the G-20 under India’s chairmanship. If successfully handled, all of them could also help buttress India’s export effort.

Author:
Dr. V.S. Seshadri is a former diplomat, and served as India’s Ambassador to Slovenia and Myanmar. He was Joint Secretary (WTO) in the Department of Commerce, Government of India, from 1999 to 2003. At present, he is a Senior Fellow for International Trade at the think-tank Delhi Policy Group, New Delhi.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/NS.2022.05.04.1