Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman states India’s desire to conform with global sanctions, including the sanctions imposed by the US on Venezuela and Russia, while maintaining its own strength and strategic interests in an interview on Tuesday.
The Indian government has voiced its opinion to the United States. Sitharaman said, “In specific issues which are critical for India’s strategic interests, we have explained to the United States that India is a strategic partner for the United States of America and you want a strategic partner to be strong and not weakened.”
In January, the US imposed the most intricate sanctions yet on Venezuela’s oil business. The move from the global leader has hushed away some global clients, but with a few alternative suppliers of heavy oil, Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd has been purchasing Venezuelan crude from Russian integrated energy company Rosneft. The firm is ready to re-start direct oil loadings in the South American nation after a four-month hiatus.
Sitharaman affirmed the strong partnership with the US but also said that both should be equally allowed to be a strong economy.
India’s GDP growth weakest since 2013
As reported by Reuters, earlier on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund lowered its perspective for Indian growth in 2019, citing lower-than-expected domestic demand. The IMF said that the US-China trade war would cut 2019 global growth to its most passive pace since the 2009-2009 financial crisis.
India’s GDP advanced at its weakest pace since 2013 between April and June, blazing expectations of further stimulus.
New Delhi has been putting efforts to boost domestic growth through an infrastructure package and a new loan program organized with the banking sector that has dispensed loans worth $11.1 billion, she said.
On being asked about further fiscal stimulus, Sitharaman said that she has not closed the door on that.
