Economic Security and Resilience Review

This issue highlights efforts to address economic security and resilience related challenges facing the country, particularly in the context of the imposition of a combined 50% additional tariff on imports from India by the Trump administration. These include greater emphasis on self-reliance and reducing external dependence, and enlarging India’s engagements with various other international partners. 

Following PM Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on independence day in which he emphasised the importance of aatmanirbharta, the Indian government has established two high level committees to draw up actionable ideas for next-generation reforms. 

PM Modi’s visit to Japan from August 29-30 resulted in several key outcomes focused on economic security, as the two countries signalled a significant deepening of ties in the context of ongoing geopolitical challenges. 

PM Modi’s visit to Tianjin for the SCO summit and his bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping on August 31 could also lead to some improvement in trade and economic ties. 

Furthermore, the meeting between PM Modi and President Putin of Russia  in Tianjin on September 1 saw the two leaders expressing satisfaction with the sustained growth in bilateral ties in the economic, financial and energy sectors. Earlier during the month, EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar’s visit to Russia on August 19-21 to co-chair the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) also yielded promises of removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers that may help promote India’s exports of goods to Russia and bridge the trade deficit. 

This issue tracks the progress in India’s FTA-related negotiations with ASEAN and Australia, as well as preparations for the 13th round of India-EU FTA talks to be held in New Delhi from September 8. 

Two noteworthy developments in the context of global trade policy evolution are covered in this issue: an article by USTR Jamieson Greer on how the preliminary agreement concluded between the US and the EU on July 27 could be laying the foundation for a new global trading order, and the US-EU joint statement of August 21 which fleshes out what it terms as a framework for an agreement on ‘fair, balanced and mutually beneficial transatlantic trade and investment’.

To read this issue of the ESRR, Vol. III, Issue 8, please see the PDF attached