India won't bow down to anybody, says Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: Asserting that "India will not bow down to anybody", commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that countries will restructure their trade routes and partners.

"The world keeps evolving, international trade keeps finding new pathways. What we are seeing today is possibly a churn that is bound to happen every few years - new countries come up, some go down. This is India's time," he said at a Business Today event. The minister said India's exports during the current fiscal year will be higher than last year. In 2024-25, India's exports reached a record $825 billion, with goods shipments valued at over $437 billion, around the same level as the previous year.

Asked about the impact of Trump tariffs , he retorted by saying that India finds opportunities in crisis. "The nation's morale is high... There is a lot of strength in the Indian economy... India will emerge as the winner," he said.

Trump's tariffs have induced uncertainty, especially with Indian exports to the US going to attract 50% duty from Aug 27. The minister was, however, confident of the Indian economy doing well and hit out at the American president's comments of India being a "dead economy.

"Samajhne wale samajh gaye, jo na samjhe who anari hain (those who are wise have understood, but the naive haven't). It's so sad, the whole world is looking up to India, whole world recognises us as the fastest growing large economy... Today, the world recognises the strength of India, recognises our demographic advantage , recognises what 1.4 billion aspirational Indians bring to the table as demand. India is a huge market: Why do you think India is queuing up to trade or have better market access?" he said.