China back as India's top trade partner, despite govt's 'atmanirbhar' push

Total imports from China at $58.7 billion were more than India's combined purchases from the US and the UAE

Photo: Bloomberg
Premium

New Delhi has been slow to issue visas to Chinese engineers needed to help Taiwanese companies set up factories under PLI scheme. Photo: Bloomberg

Karthikeyan Sundaram and Archana Chaudhary | Bloomberg
China regained its position as India’s top trade partner in 2020, as New Delhi’s reliance on imported machines outweighed its efforts to curb commerce with Beijing after a bloody border conflict.

Two-way trade between the longstanding economic and strategic rivals stood at $77.7 billion last year, according to provisional data from India’s commerce ministry. Although that was lower than the previous year’s $85.5 billion total, it was enough to make China the largest commercial partner displacing the U.S. -- bilateral trade with whom came in at $75.9 billion amid muted demand for goods in the middle of a pandemic.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned hundreds of Chinese apps, slowed approvals for investments from the neighbor and called for self-reliance after a

First Published: Feb 23 2021 | 07:58 AM IST

Explore News

To read the full story, subscribe to BS Premium now, at just Rs 249/ month.

Key stories on business-standard.com are available only to BS Premium subscribers.

Register to read more on Business-Standard.com