India sustains $1.2b trade deficit in 7 months
Pti, Beijing
India sustained a trade deficit of 1.2 billion US dollars during the first seven months of the year while the bilateral trade volume has touched 13.65 billion US dollars during that period, latest Chinese customs statistics said.The volume of trade registered a growth of 26.8 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The exports of Iron ore by India to China, which constituted over 50 per cent of the country's trade with the Communist giant have slumped with the Chinese government putting restrain on the red hot economy. Indian exports to China during January-July period amounted to 6.2 billion US dollars, and imports surged by 59.4 per cent to 7.45 billion US dollars. "We are greatly heartened by the positive momentum in our bilateral trade. Yet, both countries need to examine its various parameters closely, particularly the narrow composition of the trade basket and the insufficient use of each other's comparative advantages," officials said. "For sustainable high volumes of bilateral trade, diversification of the trade basket is not only important but imperative," they said.
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