India no longer too prolonged ago entered into a spate of alternate agreements, including with the European Union and the US, “from a predicament of energy”, High Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged on Sunday (February 15, 2026), adding that these deals were designed to agree with larger global market entry for Indian manufacturing and products and services.
His remarks, made in a written interview to the Press Belief of India, comes after the principle portion of the Value range Session of Parliament, the build the governmentfaced an attack by the Opposition on the terms of the alternate deals.
Mr. Modi defended the agreements, noting that whereas prolonged negotiations by the earlier Congress-led UPA govt had no longer yielded any outcomes, his govt’s “political steadiness and political predictability” had restored investors’ self perception in India.
Taking a view beyond tariffs
The High Minister spoke at length about his agree with govt’s efforts to enable the atmosphere to strike these deals moreover to his expectations from the non-public sector in taking earnings of those agreements.
“Swap competitiveness is just not any longer handiest about tariffs. It is ready liquidity, certification, technology adoption and compliance with global standards. Our Free Swap Agreements (FTAs) are designed to lower non-tariff boundaries and agree with larger market entry for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in sectors comparable to textiles, leather, processed food, engineering items, chemical compounds, handicrafts and gem stones and jewellery,” Mr. Modi acknowledged.
“Indian MSMEs are extra export-ready than sooner than, and India’s alternate policy now deliberately locations MSMEs at the centre of global integration. These FTAs are tools to make certain that that our childhood are no longer swish suppliers to the domestic market, however stuffed with life participants in global alternate and enhance,” he acknowledged.
Interior most sector accountability
But, he added, “policy can handiest assemble the enabling framework. The subsequent portion of transformation requires a decisive response from the non-public sector.”
Read | Ambiguities in the U.S.-India alternate deal
“As a rustic that is portion of assorted alternate agreements, making Indian merchandise and products and services globally competitive is crucial. Our stance on ‘Zero Defect, Zero Decide up’ has resonated deeply with the childhood, originate-united states of americaand minute and medium firms,” the High Minister acknowledged. “MSMEs need to transfer beyond being peripheral suppliers. They need to change into technologically upgraded, globally built-in and export-oriented enterprises that create the backbone of India’s participation in global cost chains,” he added.
Tell | India tested, from U.S. sanctions to at least one-sided alternate deal
‘We are ready’
Mr. Modi defined the prolonged-term blueprint in the support of the Union Value range for 2026-2027. “Here’s no longer a ‘now or never’ 2nd born out of compulsion. It is a ‘we are ready’ 2nd born out of preparation and inspiration. This Value range shows this craving to alter into a developed nation,” he acknowledged, explaining the Value range’s boost for capital expenditure.
He added that it modified into now time for the non-public sector to step up and rob earnings of the governments funding in infrastructure and capital expenditure. “I am proud to claim that now we absorb moved from incremental adjustments to systemic transformation,” he acknowledged.
His govt’s top three reform priorities for the following decade, Mr. Modi acknowledged, may well likely be persisted structural reforms, deepening innovation, and further simplification of governance.
Defence center of attention
On defence expenditure and reforms, he accepted that his govt’s center of attention on the priority had visibly paid off all the blueprint by the direction of Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.
“Throughout the operation, one may well likely perchance likely view some worthy advantages of the reforms now we absorb undertaken in the rest decade. Which skill truth, defence budgets, modernisation, etc., all these are substances of our continuous effort and desire no longer be linked to any particular concern,” he acknowledged in the written interview.
When requested whether the greater budgetary allocation to the defence sector modified into portion of the lesson learnt from Operation Sindoor, he answered in the affirmative. “Yes, the actuality is that our country need to be stable and be ready at all cases, and that’s what we are doing,” the High Minister acknowledged.
Union Value range 2026: Defence gets represent ₹7.85 lakh crore Value range boost put up-Operation Sindoor
“In this yr’s funds, a represent ₹7.85 lakh crore were allotted to the defence sector. Here’s 15 per cent greater than the earlier funds and is furthermore the ideal chunk allotted to any ministry or division,” he acknowledged.
Also Read | India’s defence funds: A case for greater allocation
Talking on the eve of the worldwide AI Summit to be held in Original Delhi from Monday, Mr. Modi acknowledged that “tax incentives announced in the Value range are designed to tempo up funding on this dwelling, lower the mark of constructing superior products and services and predicament India as a globally competitive vacation build for info infrastructure. The outcomes of this, too, will most likely be an enormous need of jobs for our childhood. We invite your total world’s info to reside in India!”
