Nitin Gadkari also appeared to indicate that world moving away from China could be the opportunity for the government to fulfil PM Modi’s ambition of making India a five-trillion-dollar economy by 2025.
All India Reported by Sanket Upadhyay, Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan Updated: April 25, 2020 08:34 pm IST
New Delhi:
The world right now does not want to do business with China and this is a blessing for India, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told NDTV on Saturday, during an extensive discussion on the government’s plans to support MSMEs (micro, small and medium-scale enterprises) incurring losses during the coronavirus outbreak and steps to boost the national economy after the end of the lockdown.
In his interview, Mr Gadkari also touched upon the migrant crisis that has made headlines across the country, warning against allowing the lakhs of stranded men and women to return to their home states for fear of the virus spreading.
The comment on China comes days after Asia’s largest economy hit out at the government over new rules for FDI (foreign direct investment), describing them as a violation of WTO (World Trade Organization) principles of non-discrimination and saying they were against free and fair trade.
“World over every country is facing an economic crisis. (But) every country in the world, right now, does not want to trade with China, even though it is a super economic power. This is a blessing in disguise for us. This is an opportunity for us…” he told NDTV.
Mr Gadkari also appeared to indicate this could be the opportunity for the government to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition of making India a five-trillion-dollar economy by 2025.
Last week, FDI rules were tweaked to state that companies from bordering countries could not invest in India without clearance from the centre. The Commerce Ministry said the changes were meant to curb “opportunistic takeovers or acquisitions of Indian companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic”.
On Monday, China had hit back, calling for a “revision of discriminatory practices”.
Both India and China are likely to be badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicting a growth rate of 1.2 per cent for the Asian giant; its lowest growth rate in over four decades.