Sitharaman Calls For Open, Predictable, Rules-Based Global Economic Ties

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday pitched for keeping global economic relationships open, predictable and rules-based, urging countries to engage through dialogue and negotiated agreements rather than allowing geopolitical differences to create barriers to trade and investment.

She said international trade policies should provide greater certainty to businesses, respect national development priorities and avoid unnecessary restrictions that fragment markets.

A resilient global economy would require countries to diversify partnerships, she said, urging countries to keep markets open, honour commitments and work together to keep the movement of goods, services, energy and capital stable and predictable.

"So the global economic relationship, we must remain open, predictable and rules-based. Nations should engage with one another through dialogue and negotiated agreements rather than allowing geopolitical differences to become barriers to trade and investment," Sitharaman said at the Kautilya Economic Conclave.

The minister said that uncertainty is now a standing condition of the global economy and policy must be designed around it.

"We need to keep building resilience as we go along. It's not a one-time exercise," she said, adding that the coming years call for preparation and India approaches them from strength.

"Few priorities, of course, stand out. The first, national security requires structural autonomy in strategic inputs," Sitharaman said.

To replace fragile single-source dependencies with domestic operational depth, the government has launched the National Critical Minerals Mission, the Rare Earth Corridors and the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0.

These remarks assume significance amid global economic uncertainties triggered by US tariffs and the Russia-Ukraine and US-Iran conflicts, which have severely disrupted global trade and spiked in crude oil prices.

These developments have created barriers to trade and investments.

"The conflicts involving Russia, Ukraine and Iran and the disruption around the Strait of Hormuz added a new kind of shock, one that threatened the physical movement of oil and gas as well as their prices," she said, adding, "A price shock can be cushioned with monetary and fiscal tools. But a quantity shock tests buffer stocks and the reach of delivery systems and therefore the capacity of the state itself."