UAE replaces US as India's top trading partner

India's trade has undergone a major change in the geographical direction since the global financial crisis that erupted in 2007. The US, which has been India's top trading partner till 2007-08, has since been relegated to the third position with the UAE and China assuming first and second positions in India's trade relations.

This position continued in 2009-10 and the first half of 2010-11. Figures for comparable periods show India's trade with the UAE in both 2009-10 and 2010-11 (April-September) were higher than its imports, while its exports to China were lower than imports.

Among its top 15 trading partners, India had bilateral trade surplus with five countries, namely the UAE, the US, Singapore, the UK and Hong Kong, in 2009-10 and the first half of 2010-11.

India's export-import ratio in the case of China is not only low but has been stagnating at around 0.3.

India ranked 21st in world merchandise exports in 2009 whereas China ranked first while in commercial services exports it ranked 12th compared to China's fifth.

Services exports reached $106 billion in 2008-09 with a moderate growth of 17.3 per cent over the previous year but declined to $95.8 billion in 2009-10. The share of software services declined to 45.7 per cent in the first half of 2010-11 from 50.8 per cent in the corresponding period of 2009-10. This is attributed to a moderate growth of 14.7 per cent in the first half of 2010-11 and the revival of non-software services exports.