PM Modi has said that India signed with Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the EU, and the US which opened access for MSME.
New Delhi: In a sharp take down of trade negotiations during the UPA government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said its “economic mismanagement” left India unable to negotiate from a position of confidence and could never conclude any talks.
Days after announcement of India-US trade deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shared his views on India’s economic growth story in last decade. PM Modi also took a sharp take on the UPI government led by former PM Manmohan Singh
In an exclusive interview with PTI, Modi said India’s deals signed with Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the EU, and the US have opened access for MSMEs, particularly in labour-intensive sectors, to export to these regions with near-zero tariffs or tariffs much lower than those of other exporting countries.
“These trade agreements may have happened recently, but they are the outcome of a more competitive domestic industry, a confident approach and an open outlook. These are rare qualities in today’s world. Before we speak of India’s successful trade agreements in recent years, it is important to recall where we stood just over a decade ago,” the prime minister said.
“Largely because their economic mismanagement left India unable to negotiate from a position of confidence. They did not lay the environment to bring negotiations to a conclusion. Talks would begin and then break down. In the end, despite prolonged negotiations, very little of real substance was achieved,” he said, hitting out at the Manmohan Singh dispensation.
“But once we came in, we led an economic resurgence through our policy-driven governance, strengthened our economic fundamentals and created a rules-based system. When we ensured political stability, policy predictability and a reform-oriented approach, the world wanted to invest in India,” he asserted.
As a confident, competitive and fast-growing economy, many nations saw the benefits of pursuing trade agreements with India, he said.
“To understand the difference between the earlier approach and ours, consider the EU trade agreement. It was discussed and negotiated even under the previous government. But it was our government which eventually sealed a win-win deal for our economies,” the prime minister said in a written interview.
Over the last few years, PM Modi said his government has built a strategic and purposeful network of Free Trade Agreements.
“We now have FTAs with 38 partner nations, an unprecedented milestone in India’s trade history. A remarkable feature of these trade agreements is that they span continents and include countries of varying economic strength. This gives our manufacturers and producers enough diversity and depth to sell our products across many markets,” Modi said.
(With inputs from PTI)
