NSA Explores Geopolitical Space for India in Post-covid Recovery

National security adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval has asked policy think tank NITI Aayog to prepare a list of goods and services that are likely to be in demand in international markets once the covid-19 pandemic subsides, two people familiar with the development said, requesting anonymity.

“The NSA has requested NITI Aayog for a quick study of the list of goods and services that are likely to be in demand in the international market post-covid phase, for which the country should gear up. Due to the slowdown, perhaps, low-value items and services of immediate use will be the first to witness demand outside. But we are not focusing on just value items. We are doing the number crunching and will send the list soon,” an official familiar with the development said.

He said medical supplies, drugs and textiles are the low-hanging fruit the government could initially focus on. “Supply chains are disrupted. We can’t be very ambitious in the beginning. So we could start with a few items that will have ready demand, and then go on to more value-added and costlier items,” he said.

The involvement of the NSA in an economic and commercial issue may surprise some, but the country’s top security establishment has played a role beyond its immediate brief on more than one occasion in the Narendra Modi government.

In this case, the NSA is looking at opportunities that might emerge in the new geopolitical world order in the aftermath of the pandemic and using them strategically to further India’s interests, the second person said.

Many believe that India might have a critical role at the global forum in the post-covid-19 world, if it plays its cards well.

While the US will hold presidential elections in November, and the Trump administration is withdrawing from various global fora, such as stopping funding to the World Health Organization, China faces a backlash from the world community for being opaque on the source and spread of the new coronavirus since it first broke in Wuhan in December. A section of world leaders hold Beijing responsible for the subsequent spread of the infection that led to a pandemic of mammoth proportions.

The twin events provide India a unique opportunity at the global table and the NSA’s initiative is a step in that direction.

The Modi government’s move in early April to lift restrictions on exports of 16 drugs, including the antipyretic paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine, a drug considered to be effective in treating coronavirus, despite sketchy clinical data, was an example of India being ready to take the lead in world affairs. Trump had even lauded Modi’s gesture in lifting the curbs on exports, and so did many other world leaders.

The world is currently in the throes of the pandemic with a majority of countries passing through different phases of the outbreak.

India has done well so far, baffling experts over how a country of 1.3 billion has suffered just over 1,000 deaths, while the US, with much superior health infrastructure and a population one-fourth of India’s, has recorded over 62,000 deaths.

According to a tweet by Shamika Ravi, former member of PM’s economic advisory council, and now a professor at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, the number of confirmed cases in India is now doubling every 15 days (government data says 11 days). This is five times the time it was taking for cases to double a month ago.

Source: LiveMint