Priority of trade talks is to secure fair pacts in India’s interest: Shaktikanta Das

NEW DELHI: The underlying priority of India’s trade negotiations is to secure fair and balanced agreements in the best interest of the nation and the people, a top official said on Saturday, asserting that the economy continues to demonstrate remarkable dynamism and resilience amid global uncertainty.

Delivering the Kale memorial lecture at the Punebased , principal secretary-2 to PM Modi said the global economy is going through a phase of unprecedented uncertainty and fundamental reset.


“A rules-based trading framework that promoted globalisation and free trade for over eight decades is under challenge. Established rules are being increasingly questioned while new norms are yet to be firmly established,” said the former RBI governor. He said the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia conflict have accelerated the move toward self-reliance.

“This transformation is also evident in the growing influence of regional trade agreements (RTAs), which reflect a shift towards more fragmented yet practical trade alliances,” said Das, adding that India is a signatory to 14 free trade agreements (FTAs) and six preferential trade agreements (PTAs), with the UK, Australia and the UAE being the recent additions among FTAs.

He said that at present, India is in free trade agreement negotiations with the US, the EU, Peru, Oman, New Zealand, among several others.

Das said that amid the uncertain global environment, India continues to demonstrate remarkable dynamism and resilience.

“Guided by a decade of structural reforms and strategic global positioning under the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the nation has successfully weathered multiple global headwinds,” said Das who has helped navigate several economic headwinds in the past during his stint at RBI and the finance ministry.

“India’s robust domestic demand, together with prudent macroeconomic and financial sector policies, has enabled the country to withstand many external shocks. India is now poised to contribute about one-fifth of the world’s GDP growth.”

The former RBI governor said India continues to record impressive growth, as several favourable factors, such as a younger demography and greater reliance on domestic demand, provide the strength to withstand the negative spillovers from global turbulence. Das also said India’s average economic growth during 2014-15 to 202425 was 7.1% (excluding the Covid-19 years of 2020-21 and 2021-22) and in the last three years (2022-23 to 2024-25), GDP growth averaged 7.8%.
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