Will keep diversifying export basket, says Commerce secy Barthwal in view of Iran-Israel conflict

India has diversified its trade to shield it from regional conflicts, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said Monday, adding that it will diversify further in view of the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

The government is monitoring developments in West Asia and will consider their impact before a policy response, he said. "Exports are well diversified across countries, and we are focusing on diversifying further," Barthwal said at a presser in New Delhi, adding that the government is trying to ensure that regional conflicts do not impact India's exports.

He said policy interventions will come after the government understands what issues traders are facing.


"This year, we are doing the same. Based on that exercise, whatever is needed will be done," he said, noting the strategy followed during the Suez Canal crisis last year.

While the commerce secretary said India's merchandise exports would have done much better without trade disruptions, he pointed out that the ministry was making efforts to tap new markets to weather any recessionary trends, as well as any dampening impact due to conflicts.

The ministry, in a presentation on Monday, said it has identified 14 countries as new markets, three as promising markets for electronic goods exports, 14 countries as new markets for engineering goods, and three countries for iron ore exports.

It has also identified 15 countries as new markets for cotton yarn exports, which include Georgia, Sweden, Iran and Russia. Besides, Brazil and Vietnam have been identified as promising markets.

"We are looking at the International Monetary Fund predictions for GDP growth for various countries. Based on that, we have identified 18 countries of significance where we feel that there would be good demand growth. Then, we are also looking at all commodity baskets and building a connection between commodities and those countries," said Barthwal.

He further noted that the ministry would be using new tech such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to target countries as export destinations for Indian goods.