Mutual Cooperation Between Nations to Realign the Global Supply Chain

The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic have caused the global supply chain to become less functional. In order to rebuild our global economy once the virus is contained, nations need to work together on equal and fair-trade alignment and economic policies. For decades, the United States and India have worked together to provide mutual benefit for both countries. This partnership increased during the pandemic, as the two nations worked together to address each other’s pandemic deficiencies.

Piyush Goyal, Honorable Minister of Commerce and Industry for the Government of India, advocates that these countries have a mutual trust and need to work together to create resilient supply chains. Other nations can take lessons from the foundation that the United States in India has laid down, in order to do their part to help realign the global supply chain.

Countries Need to Address the Needs of Each Other’s Citizens – Especially During COVID-19

Every nation has its own strengths and deficiencies, which can be addressed through the assistance of other countries. The United States and India have been working together during the pandemic to assist each other’s citizens.

“During the COVID 19 pandemic we saw both countries almost on a daily basis, having a dialogue on different subjects when it came to the pharmaceutical requirements, the medical requirements of both countries,” Goyal said.

“We work together to meet the needs of citizens of both countries. We were very happy to be able to ensure unrestricted and unlimited supplies as much as required by the United States, whether it was hydroxychloroquine, whether it was the various paracetamol and its derivatives. We are happy to receive ventilators from the U S., it's been a mutual relationship coming out of trust.”

Free Trade Agreements Are Mutually Beneficial and Can Empower the Global Supply Chain

Free trade agreements and reformed trade policy can help reinvigorate the global supply chain because of the benefits it has to the countries involved. The issue becomes getting both countries to agree to the terms.

“We need to work towards a much more sustainable, a much more robust, a much more enduring partnership in the form of a free trade agreement,” Goyal said.

“We believe it should also look at an early harvest in the form of a preferential trade agreement so that we can, rather than waiting for the gains of a free trade agreement, which may take several years to … you can engage with mutual trust and an open spirit so that the partnership between the U.S. and India can kick start much faster.”