Articles by Nisha Taneja

India's trade deficit with China widened from $23 billion in 2010 to $35 billion in 2013, accounting for 25% of India's total trade deficit. What is driving this widening of the trade gap and what options does India have to close the gap?

The sixth round of trade talks between India and Pakistan is noteworthy for having followed up on all the decisions taken in the fifth round of April 2011. Pakistan has decided to grant the Most Favoured Nation status to India, and the latter has initiated business-to-business and government-to-business interaction for addressing information gaps. These measures could help realise a bilateral trade potential of $25.2 billion, estimated as of 2010, an amount 10 times larger than the current $2.5 billion trade.

This article offers a systematic approach and economic rationale for pruning India's sensitive lists under the South Asian Free Trade Area agreement. The recommended sensitive lists can be used by Indian policymakers in the forthcoming SAFTA negotiations.

Current developments in regulatory regimes raise concerns about the manner in which technology transfer is likely to pan out in the debate on climate change.   Existing trade agreements have made developing countries cope with environmental challenges in meeting standards. Given that India's exports face increasing vulnerability if trade measures were to be adopted by the developed countries, existing financial mechanisms for risk mitigation need to be strengthened alongside creation of a separate technology transfer mechanism.

India and Pakistan, as natural trading partners with a common border, can have costs of trading substantially lower than with the rest of the world. On the basis of a firm level survey this article shows that restrictive trade policies, limited trade routes, inadequate transport infrastructure and procedural hindrances lead to high transaction costs for Indian exports to Pakistan. The article suggests measures that could lower such costs.