India has a negative trade balance with as many as 110 countries including China, Singapore, Germany, Indonesia, Australia and the UK, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry D Purandeswari informed Parliament the other day, while replying to a question. She said that bilateral trade between India and China has declined by 11.60% year-on-year during April-December 2012-13, adding that exports to China during the nine months of this fiscal declined by 25.10%, while imports shrunk by 7.7%. The trade deficit during April-December 2012 stood at US$ 31.65 Billion. In 2011-12, the deficit aggregated to US$ 39.44 Billion. The Minister said a study titled ‘Enhancing India – Pakistan Trade’ has recently been undertaken by economic thinktank ICRIER which assesses trade possibilities between the two countries. A substantial proportion of India’s export potential (about 58%) is in products that are on Pakistan’s negative list of 1,209 items, or on Pakistan’s sensitive list of 936 products applicable to India under the SAFTA Agreement. It has suggested that there are trade opportunities in service sectors such as IT, BPO, health care, entertainment, etc., where both countries can tap opportunities through a process of liberalizing the trade process, by setting up of joint ventures/production units, etc.
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