Welcome to the Political Fix by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, a newsletter on Indian politics and policy. To get it in your inbox, sign up he...
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The Big Story: Shut the stable door
This was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018 at the World Economic Forum in Davos:
“Forces of protectionism are raising their head against globalisation. Their intention is not only to avoid globalisation themselves but also to reverse its natural flow. The result of all this is that we get to witness new types of tariff and non-tariff barriers...
Many countries are becoming inward-focused and globalisation is shrinking and such tendencies can’t be considered lesser risk than terrorism or climate change.”
And this was Modi on May 31, 2020, in his monthly Mann ki Baat radio address:
“One of our friends from Bihar, Shriman Himanshu has written to me on the Namo App that he dreams of the day when India reduces imports to the bare minimum…be it the import of petrol, diesel, fuels, electronic items, urea or even edible oils.
I understand his sentiments. There are many products that find their way into the country from outside...
