Tough to trade in India: America

(PTI) Washington, Dt

India is still a challenging place to trade in the world, the US said. At the same time, the US has urged India to remove barriers to investment and remove bureaucratic red tape restrictions to promote an attractive and credible investment climate. India is a challenging place to do business, the US State Department said in a report on "2021 Investment Climate Statements" on Wednesday. The report also referred to the removal of the special constitutional status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Citizenship Reform Act (CAA).

The report says the new protectionist measures, which include tariff increases, purchase rules, limit competition options and are not based on sanitary and phytosanitary criteria science. Indian special standards also do not conform to international standards. The report said that manufacturers have been effectively shut down from the global supply chain in India and the area of ​​bilateral trade has been restricted.

The State Department said in a report that two "controversial" decisions were made in the first 100 days of the second term of the NDA government. The report said that the two decisions to remove the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and pass the CAA had caused a stir at home and abroad. India says the CAA is its "internal matter" and "no foreign party has the right to interfere in issues related to India's sovereignty."

India has made it clear to the international community that the repeal of Article 70 from Jammu and Kashmir is entirely an internal matter of the country. The State Department says protests over the CAA's implementation have led to nationwide protests, but ended in March 2020 due to the Corona epidemic and a severe nationwide lockdown. In the year 2020, the operation against Corona has been the most important issue in India. India's economic activity slowed down due to the Corona epidemic as well as the lockdown, and economic activity began to slow after December 2020 with signs of positive growth. The BJP-led government faced harsh criticism for the significant increase in cases during the second wave of the Koro epidemic.

The United States has said that India has undertaken special social welfare and economic relief programs to address the economic challenges posed by the Corona epidemic and national lockdown, and has increased spending on infrastructure as well as public health. The government has adopted a policy of incentives associated with manufacturing to promote pharmaceuticals, automobiles, textiles, electronics and other sectors. These steps by the central government have helped keep the Indian economy afloat from an estimated 8 per cent decline in GDP between April 2020 and March 2021. As a result, in January 2021, India returned to positive growth.