India’s trade deficit with China touched $8 billion during April-May this fiscal. The trade deficit has increased to $48.47 billion in 2014-15 from $36.2 billion in 2013-14, Business Today reported. “Increasing trade deficit with China can primarily be attributed to the fact that Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items meeting the demand of fast expanding sectors like telecom and power while India’s exports to China are characterized by primary products, raw material and intermediate,” Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made strides during his first year in office. China and India signed mutual trade agreements worth billions of dollars in May, while acknowledging strained relations between the two. Modi also has formed fresh trade ties with Russia and Japan, and jump-started talks in Europe. While bilateral agreements are positive, India also needs multilateral deals to bring its population out of poverty.
