India doesn’t look at US-China tension as a source of benefit: Piyush Goyal

India doesn’t look at US-China tension as a source of benefit and the country can stand on its own feet, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday.

“India doesn’t look at US-China tension as a source of benefit. We believe we can stand on our own feet The strength of our democracy, the rule of law that we offer, the strength of a young population, that demographic dividend works well for us,” Goyal said at the 8th Edition of the Future Investment Initiative Plenary in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He also said that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has not failed but going through certain stresses and grappling with issues like not having an Appellate Body so disputes are not being resolved through the multilateral framework.


“We have challenges on certain agendas where the developed world and the emerging markets think differently.
We've not been able to reconcile those differences but I am one who believes that the future is bright,” Goyal said, citing the example of India and the US when they resolved seven of their WTO disputes bilaterally without depending on the trade watchdog.

“So we see a great opportunity for diplomacy playing a greater role in resolving the problems of the world and India’s approach is that dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward, whether it is conflict or whether it's economics,” he said.

Goyal met Saudi Minister for Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef and had a wide-ranging discussion on bilateral ties and trade.

“We further deliberated and explored potential areas for cooperation in the fertilizers, petrochemicals, and mining sectors,” he said in a post on X.

The minister also met William E Ford, Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic and discussed the company's potential to collaborate with India’s healthcare sector especially in consumer-focused health enterprises.

“Additionally, explored potential for expansion of their investment in Global Capability Centres (GCCs), as well as various other sectors, in the country,” he said in another post on X.

During his meeting with Schneider Electric CEO Peter Herweck, the company’s investment plans for India and how it can leverage the nation’s talent pool and government support to provide high-tech, sustainable, and energy-efficient solutions to the world were discussed.

In a separate post on X, the minister said that for the first time, Saudi Arabia gets to taste the apples from Ladakh.