SWADESHI SWAGGER

It’s an opportunity, yes, but keeping China out is also fraught with risk in the post-COVID era

- SAIBAL DASGUPTA AND JYOTIKA SOOD

PM Narendra Modi’s clarion call for self-reliance and his appeal to Indian consumers to buy local products added punch to the prevailing anti-China sentiments due to Beijing’s role in allegedly ‘aiding’ the global spread of COVID-19. Buttressed by transport minister Nitin Gadkari’s blunt public criticism of China, the PM’s call added ammunition to the arsenal of the right-wing opposed to large-scale imports of low-cost Chinese goods. Fresh policies and bold reforms indicate India’s ambitious plan to replace Chinese goods with Indian ones. In 2019, India imported almost $75 billion worth of goods and services from China, ranging from firecrackers and cheap idols of Hindu gods to hi-tech telecom equipment, besides the role of Chinese firms in the construction of mega infrastructure projects. A case in point is electrical equipment used in the power sector. Government agencies, including state-owned power utilities, consume 95 per cent of the imported equipment. China accounts for 30 per cent of the total imports