India ready to deal with EU referendum

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said India was closely tracking developments in the UK

As Britons cast their votes on exiting from the European Union , the finance ministry on Thursday exuded confidence that the country is prepared to handle any development on this front.

"If Brexit happens, India is ready," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das tweeted.

"Brexit vote today. We are closely tracking developments in the UK." he added.

On Wednesday too, Das had listed sufficient foreign exchange reserve of $360 billion, India continuing to be an attractive Foreign Direct Investment destination globally and minimal likely impact on India's trade as the three factors which would allow India to be safe after any decision from Britons.

Meanwhile, secretary level talks between India and China have been deferred as Das postponed his visit to Beijing to deal with Brexit issues in India.

Earlier in the day, there were reports that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley'sbilateral Meeting with his Chinese counterpart Lou Jiwei in Beijing has beencancelled. The reports were later deniedby the finance ministry.

"The Finance Minister's meeting stands as per scheduleon 27th June," it said. Industry chambers have been asking the government to keep acontingency plan ready for Brexit.

"As a key emerging market and the one which is beingpreferred by the global fund managers, India could witness wild fluctuations orlarge outflows in sync with an overall trend," Assocham had said in a statementearlier. "That is something to watch for."

According to the Commerce Ministry data, India's trade withBritain was worth $14.02 billion in 2015-16, of which $8.83 billion was inexports and $5.19 was in imports. The trade balance thus was a positive $3.64billion in India's favour