INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi has said the recent wave of trade protectionism, in which governments raise barriers to free trade between nations, is “worrisome”.
Modi delivered the warning in a speech yesterday just hours after Donald Trump approved tariffs on imported solar-energy components and large washing machines in a bid to help US manufacturers.
In a keynote address to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Davos, Modi said that “forces of protectionism are raising their heads against globalisation”.
Without directly mentioning Trump or the US, he said “the solution to this worrisome situation against globalisation is not isolation”.
“Their wish is not only to save themselves from globalization, but to change the natural flow of globalization,” he added, addressing the audience in Hindi
Modi also quoted Mahatma Gandhi in saying: “I don’t want the windows of my house to be closed from all directions. I want the winds of cultures of all countries to enter my house with aplomb and go out also.”
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, and former US vice-president Al Gore listened to the speech.
Modi is in Davos to showcase India as a fast-growing economic power and its potential to drive global growth.
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