Can't accept FDI blindly, need safeguards: FM

India will place restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the national interest to ensure safeguards because of its location in a highly sensitive neighbourhood, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during an interactive session at the Wharton Business School in the US on Tuesday.

- RUCHIKA CHITRAVANSHI

"I cannot blindly accept FDI simply because we need investment, unmindful of where it is coming from. We want business, we want investment, but we also need some safeguards, because India is located in a neighbourhood that is very, very sensitive," Sitharaman said.

The finance minister's comments came ahead of the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics Summit in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.