Reorienting India's trade policy

New Delhi must pursue strategies that will enable it to take its place in an interconnected world

The prime minister, in his speech last month, had made repeated references to aatmanirbharta, or self-sufficiency. He also referred to “local production” a few times and exhorted us to be “vocal about local”. A limited sprinkling of phrases such as “global supply chains” and an aspirational statement that “local brands” must become “global” were noticed. The debate on economic nationalism versus globalism was once again set on roll.
 

The world has been in the throes of a most debilitating pandemic and none knows where we are heading. Even before the pandemic hit us hard, we were going through immense uncertainties