New Delhi: At a time when India is making great strides towards exemplifying Prime Minister’s ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ credo, India’s exports to China have increased substantially in the last two years. From $17.1 billion in 2019, the exports have soared to $22.9 billion in 2021 — a growth of 33.9%. That has happened despite the onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic which had dented India’s manufacturing capacity.
Even more significantly, the imports from China have plummeted to $58.7 billion from $68.4 billion in 2019. If we compare the data of growth in export and decline in import, it emerges that exports to China have burgeoned at a faster pace than that of imports in 2021 when compared with 2019.
Exports to China were 25.1% of imports in 2019 which increased to 26.2% in 2021.
The share of raw material, intermediate goods and capital goods imports from China increased in 2021 as compared to 2019, whereas imports of consumer goods have fallen from 14.7 per cent in 2019 to 10.4 per cent in 2021.
Looking at the data, it is amply clear that there is a distinct and strategic push from India to reduce its reliance on China. India is meticulously moving towards bridging the gap between its imports and exports to China, and attaining the trade equilibrium.
This assumes strategic significance because of India’s frosty relations with China in the last couple of years after eyeball-to-eyeball confrontations between the troops of both countries at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh.
Since then India have given fitting ripostes, both strategically and militarily, to the unprovoked Chinese aggression. In 2020-21, Indian government had banned 59 Chinese apps “in the interest of India’s national security and sovereignty”.
By doling out loans and sinecures, China has also been actively trying to lure India’s neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangaldesh and Nepal. In the view of such malicious machinations, India is extremely wary of China and is leaving no stone unturned to best the hostile neighbour at every front.