Let's make the case for trade optimism globally

Globalization stares at further reversals even as India's economy needs an export-led boost. Advocacy of low-barrier trade would serve us well and honour Manmohan Singh's legacy

In the long sweep of global history, will India's 1991 reforms, led by Manmohan Singh (1932-2024) as finance minister under the Narasimha Rao government, mark a turning point as impactful as Britain's 1846 repeal of corn laws and China's 1978 embrace of private property? Both the earlier moves were in favour of a freer market. So was India's opening up. That remix of our 'mixed economy' marked a reduced role of the state, designed to let resources be allocated more efficiently, directed less by the Centre and more by free interactions of demand and supply. It also opened our borders to capital and trade, exposing India Inc to global rivalry. These would combine to spell the idea whose time had come: the rapid rise of our economy.