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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, May 12: India8217;s commodity trade will be hit if Washington imposes sanctions following New Delhi8217;s nuclear tests, but the impact would be limited, trade officials and analysts said on Tuesday.
Sanctions would have limited, if any, effect as a major chunk of India8217;s import-export business is in regions such as south-east Asia, the Middle-East and Africa, they said.
quot;I don8217;t think it is going to affect our export-import trade in a very big way,quot; Ramu Deora, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations FIEO, said.
quot;Any importer or exporter has to see quality and price competitiveness. As long as we meet those standards, our trade will go on smoothly,quot; Deora said. quot;In addition to that, some of our major markets are in the Middle-East, Asia and Europe.quot;
On Monday, India conducted three underground nuclear tests in the western state of Rajasthan, its first in 24 years. The tests have drawn criticism from many countries and US officials have said the move may trigger sanctions fromWashington.
quot;But America also needs a market to sell its products and India is a big market for them,quot; Deora said. The United States accounts for 20 to 25 per cent of India8217;s import-export trade. But trade analysts said that if Washington imposes sanctions the European Union and Japan could be expected to follow suit.
quot;If the US makes it stand tough, then things could become detrimental to India as the European Union and Japan would also follow it,quot; trade analyst Arun Goyal told Reuters. Rice exporters said the sanctions could hit India8217;s basmati rice trade as the United States might shift to Pakistan.
quot;If the sanction comes, we might lose out on basmati exports to Pakistan,quot; said Mulraj Tanna, a leading foodgrains exporter. India exports some 450,000 to 500,000 tonnes of basmati a year, out of which 40,000 tonnes is exported to the United States.
Edible oil trade officials said their trade would remain unaffected but the recent contracts to import soybean oil from the United States mightsuffer if the sanctions were implemented. quot;But even if this happens, it will not be a big blow,quot; B V Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors8217; Association of India, told Reuters. quot;We can look from other suppliers such as Brazil and Argentina.quot;
Trade officials said the ongoing wheat shipments to India from Australia would not be hit but the nuclear tests might halt more import contracts from being signed. quot;I don8217;t think the current wheat import shipments will be affected,quot; said Rashmi Bhimjayani, a leading foodgrains trader.
quot;But future contracts might be affected as Australia might take a tough stand following the recalling of its official from New Delhi,quot; Bhimjayani added. India has contracted to import 1.5 million tonnes of wheat from Australia, shipments of which are under way. Australia has recalled its top diplomat from Delhi for consultations following the nuclear tests.
Sugar industry officials said the nuclear tests would not hit trade and imports from Pakistan would flow in asusual. quot;Sugar trade will go on as usual,quot; said SL Jain, director-general of Indian Sugar Mills Association. quot;Pakistan traders are benefiting a lot from exporting to India.quot;
