Question

“International trade is considered the economic barometer of a country.” Justify the statement with arguments. 

Answer 1

 i) India has trade relations with all the major trading blocks and all geographical regions of the world. Among the commodities in export the share of agriculture and allied products has been 8.64 per cent, base metals 6.91 per cent, gems and jewellery 17.02 per cent, chemicals and related products 12.06 per cent in 2016-17.

ii) The commodities imported to India include petroleum crude and products (22.4 per cent),gems and jewellery (12.8 per cent), chemicals and related products (9.76 per cent), base metals (5.95 per cent), electronic items (10.94%) machinery (8.9 per cent), agriculture and allied products (5.84 per cent) in 2016– 17*.

iii) International trade has undergone a sea change in the last decades. Exchange of  commodities and goods have been superseded by the exchange of information and knowledge. India has emerged as a software giant at the international level and it is earning large foreign exchange through the export of information technology.