India has trade deficit with 27 countries for last three years: Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: India has a trade deficit with as many as 27 major countries, including China, Australia, Iraq and Iran, during the last three years.

With these countries, India has trade deficit continuously during the last three years, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

She said India generally runs a deficit with those countries from which high-demand commodities are sourced.

These include items like crude oil, gold, diamond and fertiliser.

In 2015-16, India's trade deficit fell 14 per cent to $118.35 billion.

Other countries with which India has a trade gap include Indonesia, Korea, Germany, Canada, Taiwan, Russia and Ukraine.

In a separate reply, she said India's exports have been adversely affected by recessionary trends across the globe, including in the EU and the US.

India's agriculture exports during April-February 2016 worked out at $18.78 billion as against $18.69 billion in 2014-15, the minister said in a separate reply.

"Keeping in view the high domestic consumption base and limited arable land, India's share in world agricultural exports can not be termed as low," she asserted.

Replying to a separate question on Pakistan, Sitharaman said India's bilateral trade increased marginally to $2.53 billion in 2015-16, from $2.35 billion in the previous fiscal.