‘We are playing hockey, they are playing football’: FM Sitharaman on China’s trade barriers

Her comments came in response to a question about India’s widening trade deficit with China and whether the imbalance could hold back the goal of a Viksit Bharat. Sitharaman said the trade figures reflect what is actually recorded as exports and imports, but argued that the numbers do not capture the full picture. Some Indian goods eventually reach China through countries such as Vietnam because India does not get direct market access for those products, she said. “Our export account would say that we are still not adequately exporting to China, but actually it is going to China. It never…