New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. He said that due to the economic mismanagement of the UPA government, India could not present its position strongly in trade negotiations. Because of this, not even a single negotiation could reach a conclusion.’ In an interview, Modi said that the trade agreements that India has signed with Australia, New Zealand, Britain, European Union (EU) and the US have opened the way for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially in labour-intensive sectors, to export goods to these countries at almost zero duty or at much lower duty than other countries.
The Prime Minister said that these trade agreements may have been signed recently, but they are the result of a more competitive domestic industry, a confident approach and open-mindedness. These are rare qualities found in today’s world. Before talking about the trade agreements India has signed in recent years, it is important to remember where we stood a decade ago. He said that the UPA government tried to make some trade agreements during its rule, but the journey was full of uncertainty and instability.
Modi targeted the government led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that India could not present its position strongly mainly due to their economic mismanagement. He did not create a conducive environment for the talks to conclude. The conversation would start and then stop. In the end, despite long discussions, no concrete conclusion could be reached.
But after coming to power, he said, we led economic revival through policy-based governance, strengthened our economic framework and built a rules-based system. When we ensured political stability, policy predictability and a reform-centric approach, the world became willing to invest in India.
Modi said the reforms undertaken by his government have helped both India’s manufacturing and services sectors and boosted productivity and competitiveness among MSMEs. He said India’s emergence as a confident, competitive and fast-growing economy saw many countries benefit from pursuing trade agreements with New Delhi.
Modi said in a written interview that to understand the difference between the approach of the previous government and our approach, look at the trade agreement signed with the European Union. This was discussed and negotiated even during the tenure of the previous government. But ultimately an agreement beneficial to both the economies was sealed in our government. He said that over the past few years his government has created a strategic and purposeful network of free trade agreements.