NEW INDIA TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN SELF-RELIANCE AND GLOBAL CO-OPERATION

Trade and partnership, an integral part of global co-operation have played a vital role in the economic growth and development of the world.

- VAIBHAVI PINGALE

Between 1990 and 2015, extreme poverty declined from close to 40 percent of the global population to 10 percent. This result was largely possible because of a more integrated global economy and global value chains—the effect of comparative advantages between countries in action.

The Indian economy has been evolving for the past 73 years after independence. Especially, international trade has undergone tremendous changes post-liberalization policy of 1991. Research shows that the post-1991 consensus to open up produced extremely positive outcomes. A recent study by ICRIER, a thinktank, showed that domestic value-added content of exports in the decade to 2013-14 increased fourfold to $310 billion. The pace of growth of export-related jobs outstripped that of overall employment and increased from 40.2 million to 78.2 million during that period.

Yet, this system for advancing joint prosperity trade has become less about creating win-win agreements and more about gaining the advantage at the expense of a global competitor. In late 2019, the International Monetary Fund warned that rising trade tensions would pose a drag on the economic growth of approximately $700 billion in 2020.

In spite of the protectionist trend prevailing in the world, the severe disruptions caused by the pandemic COVID-19 realigned the need for global co-operation for the recovery as well as future economic growth and development.