Irrigation facilities in several Indian states are inadequate, increasing the dependence of farmers on the monsoon rains.

Jobs are scant, and more than 90% of the workforce is in the informal economy.

On December 1, 2022, Prime Minister Modi had sent out a strong political message that "our G20 priorities will be shaped in consultation not only with our G20 partners but also with our fellow-travelers in the global South, whose voice often goes unheard."

The US imposes strict defence export controls on even its closest allies such as Australia and the UK. Can India then succeed in securing critical technologies from the US when closer partners have failed?

Since the “Common Framework” was launched, only four countries – Chad, Ethiopia, Zambia and Ghana – have requested for restructuring of their debts. This does not speak too well about the success of the initiative.

India is being targeted using a deeply flawed methodology that the WTO has prescribed for estimating subsidies arising from market price support.

India is being targeted using a deeply flawed methodology that the WTO has prescribed for estimating subsidies arising from market price support.

Everyone wants a better price, but the farm laws should have been designed keeping in mind the vastly unequal bargaining powers between India’s farmers and large businesses.

Although ASEAN members decided to forge the regional partnership with a view to establishing 'ASEAN centrality,' the agreement over RCEP could well cement the central role of China in this region.

Piyush Goyal insists that that New Delhi and Washington DC are “almost there” in closing the much-delayed “quick trade deal”, but a broader FTA will require confronting various thorny issues.

The government’s budgetary calculations have been adversely hit. The lack of financial resources completes the circle for a government which, in the first place, is unwilling to invest for the revival of the economy.

Domestic enterprises must be pulled up by their bootstraps before they are able to compete in global markets. Modi must focus this critical dimension going forward. 

The government has done little to assuage concerns on employment and the middling growth of the manufacturing sector.

Given the failure in negotiating the Doha Development Agenda – the developing countries’ plan to reform the WTO – the G20's idea of creating a rules-based, open and inclusive multilateral trading system is ironical.