Fight on Another Line of Actual Control

Context: India-China border clashes with rising violence and casualties requires a viable and rational economic strategy.

India’s Import Dependency on China

• In the absence of Made in India: an alternative for mobile phone components (9% of total imports) and electronic items (11% of total imports)

• It is feasible to rely on its final assembly in India than to import finished products.

• India may prefer an import substitution with domestic options in strategic items (like API, fertilizers, organic chemicals, and other metals) and Categories like toys, textiles, and footwear (a relatively small part of imports from China)

Economic Solution of Border Disputes

• Competitive policy framework for the growth of the domestic manufacturing sector to reduce import dependency.
• Tariff barriers (countervailing, anti-dumping duties, etc) to counter China’s edge on account of its hidden State support or uncompetitive practices.
• Non-tariff barriers: revitalizing the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to reduce import.

Conclusion: India should use its buyers’ power to extract better terms, especially for its exports as an economic tool to counter Chinese aggression at LAC.