China is far ahead of India in trade relations with neighboring countries

Mumbai, Ta. Monday, June 29, 2020

Over the past decade and a half, China has made great strides in boosting trade relations with South Asian countries. In 2014, Bangladesh became its largest trading partner. In addition, China has invested heavily in Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Until 2006, China and India were at almost the same level in trade with South Asian countries. But since then, China has steadily increased trade with these countries since 2002. The financial crisis in 2008 affected trade. It remains to be seen how much the neighboring countries will support India in times of tension in view of the trade agreement with China.

In 2016, China's trade with South Asian countries stood at 20.81 billion, while India's was ડો 2.50 billion, according to one analyst. The gap between China and India's trade volume is widening due to China's huge trade volume with Pakistan. India has a good trade relationship with Pakistan.

The free trade agreement with Pakistan has led to an increase in China's trade with it. Excluding China's trade volume with Pakistan, the trade volume between the two countries with South Asian countries ended at a modest ૨ 12.5 billion in 2015.

China has been the largest exporter in trade with eight neighboring countries. Despite regional and free trade agreements, India's trade volume with neighboring countries has remained low in terms of value compared to China. China has a free trade agreement with only one nation.