India needs to open up market to attract investment: US diplomat

Opportunity for India by adopting more open and welcoming policies by reducing tariffs that allow manufacturing companies inside India to be part of the global supply chain, says Alice Wells

The post-coronavirus world provides a window of opportunity to India as countries are looking to diversify their supply chains, a senior American diplomat said on Wednesday.

Alice G Wells, US State Department's top official for Central and South Asia, however, said: "India needs to open up as it is still a protected market, which sometimes denies a level playing field to foreign companies."

"In the post-pandemic environment, countries are looking at a little bit of de-globalisation and onshoring of critical production. And at the same time, there's a very vigorous effort to diversify supply chains," Wells said during a conference