Back to square one on trade strategy

India’s economy is in trouble and the government’s economic management is under fire. Unfazed, the mandarins harp on about strong fundamentals. Even if we were to shed our disbelief, the outstanding question remains: What’s the strategy to revive the economy? Mere fundamentals will not do the trick. And, since 2014, nowhere has the absence of a strategy been more obvious than in external trade. 

During 2004-14, there was an overarching strategy and a policy that underpinned it: Increase economic integration with the rest of the world, reduce protection and tariffs, and promote competitiveness of industry and exports. Free trade agreements (FTAs)