Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-15T18:24:13.759Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Will India's Disengaging Trade Policy Restrict It from Playing a Greater Global Role?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2021

Amitendu Palit
Amitendu Palit*
Affiliation:
Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore
*
Email: isasap@nus.edu.sg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

India's ambition of playing a prominent role in regional and global affairs has been particularly visible since the assumption of office by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014. The ambition has resulted in India's external engagement, abandoning the posturing of non-alignment for a more proactive multi-alignment strategy. Its efforts to engage with major powers such as the US and China, as well as other global middle powers such as Japan, the UK, and Australia, have been positioned on rapid economic progress, enabled by one of the fastest rates of growth among major economies. Attempts to expand global strategic influence, a natural outcome of robust economic expansion, should have seen India pursuing an aggressive outward-oriented external trade policy for increasing its share in global trade. India, though, has shown a marked resistance to open trade, including being reluctant to engage in regional and bilateral trade negotiations. This paper examines the dichotomy between India's desire to play a prominent global role and its aversion to open trade policies. Attributing the inward-looking approach to lack of competitiveness of Indian industry, absence of domestic pro-trade constituencies, and discomfort in negotiating new-generation trade issues, the paper argues India's quest for greater global strategic influence might be adversely affected by its restrictive trade policies.

Keywords

Indiaindustrial policyeconomic statecrafttrade policycompetitiveness
Type
Original Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 20 , Special Issue 2: Economic Statecraft and Global Trade in the 21st Century , May 2021 , pp. 203 - 219
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Dr Amitendu Palit is Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade & Economic Policy) at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) in the National University of Singapore (NUS). He can be reached at isasap@nus.edu.sg and amitendu@gmail.com.

References

Andersen, W. and Damle, S. (2018) RSS: A View to the Inside. Penguin Random House India.Google Scholar
Bradsher, K. (2018) ‘Modi, in Davos, Praises Globalization Without Noting India's Trade Barriers’, The New York Times, 23 January, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/business/modi-in-davos-praises-globalization-without-mentioning-india-trade-barriers.html.Google Scholar
Chainey, R. (2018) ‘Narendra Modi: These are the 3 Greatest Threats to Civilization’, Global Agenda, World Economic Forum (WEF), 23 January, www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/narendra-modi-davos-these-are-the-3-greatest-threats-to-civilization/.Google Scholar
Desai, R. (2019) ‘India's Data Localization Remains a Key Challenge for Foreign Companies’, Forbes, 30 April, www.forbes.com/sites/ronakdesai/2019/04/30/indias-data-localization-remains-a-key-challenge-for-foreign-companies/#564e35efe0a3.Google Scholar
Efstathopoulos, C. and Kelly, D. (2014) ‘India, Developmental Multilateralism and the Doha Ministerial Conference’, Third World Quarterly 35(6), 1066–1081. doi:10.1080/01436597.2014.907728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, S. and Kallummal, M. (2013) ‘India's Comprehensive Trade Agreements: Implications for Development Trajectory’, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) 48(31), 109–122.Google Scholar
Frayer, L. and Khan, F. L. (2019) ‘The Powerful Group Shaping the Rise of Hindu Nationalism in India’, npr, 3 May, www.npr.org/2019/05/03/706808616/the-powerful-group-shaping-the-rise-of-hindu-nationalism-in-india.Google Scholar
Guha, A. and Ray, A. S. (2004) ‘India and Asia in the World Economy: The Role of Human Capital and Technology’, International Studies 41(3), 299–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horn, H., Mavroidis, P. C., and Sapir, A. (2009) ‘Beyond the WTO: An Anatomy of EU and US Preferential Trade Agreements’, Bruegel Blueprint 7, Bruegel Blueprint Series, Vol. VII. Brussels, Belgium: Bruegel. https://bruegel.org.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. (2018) ‘Industry: Indian Prospects and Challenges’, in Rai, V. and Palit, A. (eds.), Seven Decades of Independent India. Penguin Random House India.Google Scholar
Palit, A. (2012) ‘Economic Reforms in India: Perpetuating Policy Paralysis’, Working Paper, 48, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore, http://ISAS_Working_Paper_148_Economic_Reforms_in_India_30032012163947.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palit, A. (2019) ‘Domestic Politics Force India's Withdrawal from RCEP and Broader Trade Disengagement’, Asia-Pacific Bulletin, 494, East West Center, Washington, DC, 26 November, www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/domestic-politics-force-india's-withdrawal-rcep-and-broader-trade-disengagementGoogle Scholar
Palit, A. and Nawani, S.. (2007) ‘Technological Capability as a Determinant of FDI Inflows: Evidence from Developing Asia & India’, Working Paper, 193, International Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), India, www.icrier.org/pdf/Working_Paper_193.pdf.Google Scholar
Ray, A. S. (2011) ‘Shaping the Coordinates of India's Trade Policy Architecture: Domestic versus International Drivers’, Working Paper, 126, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, www.isas.nus.edu.sg/papers/126-shaping-the-coordinates-of-indiaocos-trade-policy-architecture/.Google Scholar
Siddiqui, K. (2016) ‘A Critical Study of the Hindu Nationalism in India’, Journal of Business and Economic Policy 3(2) http://jbepnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_2_June_2016/2.pdf.Google Scholar
Wignaraja, G. (2011) Economic Reforms, Regionalism and Exports: Comparing China and India. East West Center, Policy Studies, 60, www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/economic-reforms-regionalism-and-exports-comparing-china-and-india.Google Scholar