India Accelerates Strategic Competitiveness Amid Global Turbulence
“Our relationship with India is anchored in trust that has shaped our shared vision for a stable and resilient future. We have built a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that is complementary, not competitive. Australia’s innovations and India’s scale strengthen each other, whether in renewable energy, education, or emerging industries. Our partnership with India opens a new horizon, one shaped by reliability, diversification, and opportunity. What we have built together is a robust, agile economic strategy grounded in respect, long-term vision and the living bridge of our vibrant diaspora.” stated HE Todd McClay, Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry and Associate Minister for Foreign Affairs, New Zealand at the Session “Crisis to Competitiveness: Reinforcing Economic Security” at the 30th CII Partnership Summit held on 15 November in Visakhapatnam.
“Trade agreements help us to provide options and chances diversify for our businesses so they can choose where they want to assess risk and where to put their effort. Furthermore, partnerships are essential for resilience. We're seeing how bold ideas between a few partners can grow into something transformational.” The minister added.
The session was also addressed by H E Mr Rui Migues de Oliveira, Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Angola who said “We can convert this new political reality into lasting competitiveness through a deliberate, strategic pivot across interconnected phases. We must stabilise and maximise our current engine of ease for Angolan countries - the oil sector. We need capital for resilience and investment. This requires strengthening governance, expanding transparency, and moving further downstream in the oil value chain. We must capture more value from each barrel by refining and developing petrochemical capacities.”
Hon’ble minister highlighted the importance of leveraging the African continental Free Trade Zone, which will allow to connect a 1.3 billion people market that is in developing. The need of the hour calls for alignment of the education system with the market needs in STEM in vocational skills, digital literacy, as a healthy skilled workforce is the ultimate source of competitiveness.
Mr Richard Rossow, Senior Adviser & Chair on India & Emerging Asia Economics, Center for Strategic & International Studies, United States who was also present at the session said, “In India, we have a range of projects working with states on electric mobility and storage and hydrogen things.” He went talk aboutprocess reforms which remain within reach and can significantly boost competitiveness.
Dr Rajan Sudesh Ratna, Deputy Head & Senior Economic Affairs Officer, UNESCAP, South & Southwest Asia Office, highlighted that India stands at a powerful inflection point, with its demographic being one of its strengths. With 1.4 billion people forming one of the largest and most dynamic markets in the world.
He highlighted that the way forward lies in diversifying India’s trade partnerships and strengthening India’s domestic supply capabilities. By moving up the value chain, producing more high-value finished products and capital goods, and reducing dependence on imports in critical sectors, India can deepen its resilience and sharpen its global competitiveness.
Ms Subhashini Abeysinghe, Research Director, Verite Research, Sri Lanka who stated “one of the greatest challenges most developing countries face is that economic security is increasingly viewed in a national security lens, and finding that right balance, because for developing countries, providing livelihood, alleviating poverty, improving quality of life of the people, is central to economic security.”
“India also possesses two unique strengths that cannot be replicated; cultural proximity and shared democratic values. South Asian nations are connected through common traditions, food, religion, cricket, and social norms, an organic cultural bond that fosters deep understanding and trust”, she added.
Mr Prabhakar Garimella, CEO-International Business, Ralson Tyres Limited, New Delhi, spoke about the current FTAs that India has with other countries and said “these agreements with various countries, does help to ease out lot of entry barriers. I strongly believe that we must work further in this direction, mostly the FTAs.”
Ms Jodi McKay, Director, Australia-India CEO Forum Business Council of Australia said, “Australia and India have a robust and an agile economic strategy born out of trust and respect and a long-term partnership, which is important our diaspora.”
The session was moderated by Dr (Ms) Suchitra K Ella, Vice President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd. “For India, economic security is the ability to pursue our developmental aspirations free from coercion, internal or external, while safeguarding our strategic autonomy, protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring the robustness of our trade technology and supply chains”, Dr Ella stated.
She also highlighted the four foundational pillars, namely- strengthening of domestic capabilities; diversification of trade partnerships with global trade restrictions having increased fivefold; critical technologies to be secured as the global race intensifies to in areas like semiconductors, artificial intelligence and clean energy; and economic resilience.
15 November 2025
Visakhapatnam