‘8 Years of Sushasan’: Modi Government Cares for Each and Every Indian

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 5^th June. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India. When he said that, he meant an India that is strong enough to take care of itself and also keen to work with the world to ensure the world’s needs are taken care of.

In the course of the last two years, there are multiple instances when Aatmanirbhar Bharat has shown itself to be an outward looking vision that seeks to strengthen the world.

For example, when the world was reeling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India exported important medicines to over 100 countries, at a time when global supply chains had been broken.

Further, at a time when even many developed countries refused to help smaller countries with COVID-19 vaccines, India exported over 20 crore vaccines to over 100 countries.

It is also due to the same Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision that India’s exports have hit record highs while even foreign investment in India is at a record level. Clearly, the world wants to trade with India and considers it a reliable partner in the post-COVID world order.

India- Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement

The India-Australia ECTA is the first trade agreement of India with a developed country after more than a decade. The Agreement encompasses cooperation across the entire gamut of bilateral economic and commercial relations between the two friendly countries and covers areas like Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Customs Procedures, Pharmaceutical products, and Cooperation in other Areas. ECTA provides an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries. The ECTA between India and Australia covers almost all the tariff lines dealt in by India and Australia respectively.

Bilateral trade in goods and services for both the countries is expected to rise from the existing $27.5 billion to $45 billion in five years

Australia is offering zero duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one. This covers many products which currently attract 4-5% customs duty in Australia.

India will benefit from preferential market access provided by Australia on 100% of its tariff lines. This includes all the labour-intensive sectors of export interest to India such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food, agricultural products, engineering products, medical devices, and automobiles.

India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

India and UAE entered into a historic trade agreement partnership on 18th February 2022. The gems and jewellery sector contributes a substantial portion of India’s exports to the UAE and is a sector that is expected to benefit significantly from the tariff concessions obtained for Indian products under the India-UAE CEPA.

Overall, India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97% of its tariff lines which account for 99% of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms, particularly from labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural and wood products, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and Automobiles. As regards trade in services, Indian service providers will have enhanced access to around 111 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors. Via Narendra Modi app

In each of these cases, the deal has been ensured in a manner that caters to the interests of both parties and creates causes for shared prosperity, including jobs, education opportunities and market opportunities for each other’s goods and services.

These various agreements are not just going to contribute productively towards benefiting India’s economy but also strengthen its position in the post-COVID global order as a preferred trade and investment hub. With greater exports, greater job creation and higher economic growth, countries looking to have trade deals with India will only increase.