Paper: GS – II, Subject: International Relations, Topic: Agreements involving India, Issue: India Trade Pacts Strategy.
Context:
India’s recent trade pacts with the US and EU, arguing that they represent a pragmatic adaptation to a world where economics and geopolitics are increasingly intertwined.
Key Highlights:
Changing Trade Strategy:
- India–U.S. trade frictions and tariff disputes show how economic relations now shape geopolitical outcomes.
- India is shifting from defensive postures to calibrated negotiations based on national priorities.
Strategic Autonomy in Economics:
- Economic independence today means reducing overdependence through diversified supply chains and partnerships.
- India seeks access to global markets, technology, and investments while maintaining policy flexibility.
Mastering Interdependence:
- The recent trade pacts represent the continuing evolution of India’s engagement with a complex international system.
- India’s task is to navigate this environment with pragmatism, expanding economic capability, diversifying partnerships, preserving decision-making flexibility, and avoiding binary alignments.
- Success will depend on mastering interdependence, as global politics increasingly resembles a web of overlapping economic and strategic networks.
Trade as Geopolitics:
- Trade has become geopolitics by other means.
- Strategic autonomy rests less on distance and more on capability.
- Diversification of partners strengthens leverage.
- Interdependence brings both opportunity and conditionality.
- Economic strength remains the true currency of sovereign choice.
Key Factors for India’s Rise:
- Sustained opening up, regulatory reform, competitiveness in manufacturing, technology depth, and energy resilience will matter far more than any single trade negotiation.
- How confidently India aligns economic openness with strategic independence will shape its trajectory in a world where prosperity and security increasingly travel together.
India’s trade diplomacy reflects a shift from reactive protectionism to confident, interest-driven engagement, positioning the country as a pragmatic negotiator balancing strategic autonomy with deeper global economic integration.
Source: (The Indian Express)
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