<p><em>By Adrija Chatterjee</em></p>.<p>India’s bilateral trade with China rose by a third in the year to March, throwing a spanner in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to wean the South Asian nation from relying on its larger neighbour for cheap imports and promote a thriving domestic industry.</p>.<p>Total merchandise trade between India and China rose 34 per cent to Rs 9.56 lakh crore ($115.83 billion) in the 12 months to March 2022, according to data from the Commerce Ministry released to parliament last week. Trade between the two nations so far this year — between April and October — stood at Rs 5.69 lakh crore ($69.04 billion), according to the ministry.</p>.<p>In recent years, Modi’s administration has been trying to cut India’s reliance on China — the country’s biggest source of imports. It imposed curbs on trade and businesses in 2020 amid the deadliest fighting in decades at their disputed Himalayan border.</p>.<p>Despite those curbs, imports from the Asian giant have ballooned, out-pacing exports handily. As such, India’s trade deficit with China in the first seven months of the current fiscal at Rs 4.25 lakh crore ($51.50 billion), the data showed. This compares with a reading of Rs 6.05 lakh crore ($73.31 billion) for the entire fiscal ending March 2022.</p>.<p>($1 = Rs 82.54)</p>.<p><em>--With assistance from Swansy Afonso.</em></p>
<p><em>By Adrija Chatterjee</em></p>.<p>India’s bilateral trade with China rose by a third in the year to March, throwing a spanner in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to wean the South Asian nation from relying on its larger neighbour for cheap imports and promote a thriving domestic industry.</p>.<p>Total merchandise trade between India and China rose 34 per cent to Rs 9.56 lakh crore ($115.83 billion) in the 12 months to March 2022, according to data from the Commerce Ministry released to parliament last week. Trade between the two nations so far this year — between April and October — stood at Rs 5.69 lakh crore ($69.04 billion), according to the ministry.</p>.<p>In recent years, Modi’s administration has been trying to cut India’s reliance on China — the country’s biggest source of imports. It imposed curbs on trade and businesses in 2020 amid the deadliest fighting in decades at their disputed Himalayan border.</p>.<p>Despite those curbs, imports from the Asian giant have ballooned, out-pacing exports handily. As such, India’s trade deficit with China in the first seven months of the current fiscal at Rs 4.25 lakh crore ($51.50 billion), the data showed. This compares with a reading of Rs 6.05 lakh crore ($73.31 billion) for the entire fiscal ending March 2022.</p>.<p>($1 = Rs 82.54)</p>.<p><em>--With assistance from Swansy Afonso.</em></p>
