Rallying behind the Indian Army’s move to conduct surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control, India Inc today said it was time to act tough while ruling out any negative impact on the country’s economy and trade.
India Inc is completely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been showing ideal leadership qualities in dealing with situations of heightened tensions with Pakistan, apex industry body ASSOCHAM said in a statement.
India carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir last night, inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists and those trying to support them.
Reacting to the reports of surgical strikes, the Sensex plummeted 465.28 points to end at 27,827.53; whereas the Nifty nosedived 153.90 points to 8,591.25.
"The Indian economy has a strong bandwidth to deal with any possible after effects of the current state of tensions with Pakistan," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.
The chamber said that while reaction in the stock market to the news of India’s surgical strikes was understandable, there is no cause of concern for the country’s economy which has the capabilities to withstand any extra costs to be borne for the sake of our national security.
“The current situation also underlines the need for India to set up its own manufacturing base for high technology arms and ammunition with our country being among the largest importer of defence equipment. The government has already taken measures to liberalize foreign investment to set up defence manufacturing bases in India, but more needs to be done,” ASSOCHAM said in a statement.
Reacting to Indian Army’s move, Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw tweeted, "Our civil n decent response in the past hasn't been met with reciprocity so it's time to act tough (sic)."
Recalling an earlier tweet in which he had said "I trust our army. They know how to pursue & retaliate" in the wake of the Uri attack, industrialist Anand Mahindra said: "I don’t need to add anything more today..."
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahesh Gupta said there will be no impact on India’s trade and economy, adding that the volatility in the financial markets will also be short lived.
India’s exports to the neighbouring country worked out to USD 2.17 billion, or 0.83 per cent, of the total Indian outward shipments while imports were less than USD 500 million, or 0.13 per cent, of the total inward shipments.
Industry bodies Ficci and CII declined to comment.
Exporters body FIEO’s Director General & CEO Ajay Sahai too ruled out any negative impact on India’s trade with other countries.
However, asked about the implications on India-Pakistan bilateral trade, Sahai said India’s move to review the most favoured nation (MFN) status accorded to its neighbour has raised some uncertainty for exporters on whether trade will normalise in the future.
