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South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and walked away from the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s push for regional economic integration and for India-Pakistan dialogue should be studied carefully by New Delhi. Speaking at The Hindu**’s Huddle conclave** last week, Mr. Wickremesinghe set out a number of suggestions. He blamed India-Pakistan tensions for bringing economic integration within the SAARC region to a “standstill”, explaining that the original purpose of the South Asian group was to build a platform where bilateral issues could be set aside in the interest of regional growth. Decrying the lack of economic integration in South Asia, and the failure of SAARC, as well as BIMSTEC (which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand), to engender more intra-regional trade, Mr. Wickremesinghe suggested an even smaller sub-grouping of four countries with complementary economies: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand, to begin the process of reducing tariffs and demolishing non-tariff barrier regimes. When it comes to the intra-regional share of total trade, SAARC and BIMSTEC languish behind groupings such as ASEAN, EU and MERCOSUR. The Sri Lankan leader also suggested that with India’s leadership, a more integrated South Asian region would be better equipped to negotiate for better terms with RCEP so as not to be cut out of the “productivity network” in Asia, and envisioned an Economic Integration Road Map to speed up the process.

India needs to engage with its neighbours Given the current policy trajectory of the Modi government, it is unlikely that any of the suggestions will be welcomed. The government has made it clear that talks with Pakistan are strictly off the table, and that a SAARC summit, which has not been held since 2014, is unlikely to be convened anytime soon. Second, the government, which has taken a protectionist turn on multilateral trade pacts, is relying more on direct bilateral deals with countries rather than overarching ones that might expose Indian markets to flooding by Chinese goods. For any regional sub-grouping in South Asia to flourish, it is India that will have to make the most concessions given the vast trade deficits India’s neighbours have at present, which it may not wish to do. However, the overall projection that India’s global reach will be severely constrained unless it is integrated with its neighbours, and tensions with Pakistan are resolved, cannot be refuted. India needs to be more accommodative for the realisation of its ambitions.

Source: The Hindu  |

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Is it true that despite the outbreak of Covid-19 epidemic China registered a positive growth rate?

When the GDP data for the first quarter of the current financial year of India was released, it was revealed that between April and June, the growth rate fell by 23.9 percent, thanks to negative growth in the construction, manufacturing sector.

Covid-19 Effects Chinese Economy

It was  the biggest decline after nearly 24 years. But during this period of economic crisis, China’s growth rate has been positive.

That is, China is the first major economy, which is growing despite the outbreak of epidemic. China claims that its GDP growth in the same period i.e. April to June quarter has been 3.2%. According to the data, China’s factory output recorded a growth of 4.4%. The online retail cell saw a growth of 14.3 percent. Although retail sales declined by 3.9%. Exports also registered a growth of 0.4%.

When all major economies are troubled by the Corona epidemic, how is China’s economy doing well?

When the world was fighting the Corona virus, the Chinese government announced on March 24 that a partial lockdown would be lifted in Wuhan, the epicenter of the Corona epidemic, from 8 April.

Whereas, except in Wuhan, the travel ban in other parts of Hubei province was lifted from midnight on 24 March.

By the time the restrictions were being lifted in China, the virus had spread to 186 countries of the world. However, it is worth noting that Wuhan was sealed in mid-January.

Because of which, in the quarter from January to March, China’s GDP growth rate fell by 6.8%. This was China’s worst performance since the mid-1960’s. But China’s economy dramatically improved following the easing of sanctions.