Act East policy giving way to Welcome West

The Centre is playing down its trade relations with Asian countries with more noises about de-coupling from China

Last week, the minister for external affairs said the free trade agreements (FTA) that India entered into over the years had not been able to largely serve the country’s economy well in terms of building its capacities. A day later, the minister for commerce and industry said India and the US were closer to a quick trade deal. A week earlier, India and the European Union were discussing ways to take forward the talks for a trade agreement.

India had been taking the lead towards increasing the trade among South Asian neighbours for the past few decades, without much success.