Trying to export people, not milk.

"Going purely by decibels on TV screens and social media, it would seem India's in a constant state of geopolitical siege." Our economy is no match for China. "It's at 20% of China's GDP. As a market, China offers 5-10 times the size of India across products and services." "India's current manufacturing architecture - in labor and infra - is struggling to match up to Vietnam and is not always the default alternative to any China+1 initiative." "The only foreign policy that means anything is fast economic growth. Rest will fall into place," wrote Somnath Mukherjee. We need trade for the economy to grow. "India's approach to free trade can appear contradictory. Officials insist they are serious about  closing new deals with the UK and the European Union and improving older ones with countries such as Australia." "Indian officials still tend to think of trade as a zero-sum game, with tariffs as the only real levers." "Global counterparts often wonder at how India can produce new 'red lines' out of nowhere, aimed at protecting one sector after another," wrote Mihir Sharma. "India has bilateral trade agreements with 14 countries or economic blocs, four of the most substantial ones of these have gone back to the drawing board, for review or fine tuning." "Even the relatively recent with the UAE is undergoing review at the instance of India," because "there has been a sharp rise in imports of gold, silver and jewellery from Dubai, impacting government revenues and domestic industry." FE. "There will be no free trade agreement with the European Union if the bloc insists on India opening up its dairy sector, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said." ET. "With 25% of global milk production, India is the world's largest producer." "India exported 63,738.47 MT of dairy products in 2023-224, valued at $272.64 million." And the top export destinations are "the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US, Singapore and Bhutan." Export Import Data. If the EU reciprocates by opening its own dairy market equally we could double our milk exports. "Former UK minister Kemi Badenoch,..has said that she blocked the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) due to demands for additional visas, according to UK media reports." TOI. Ever since 2014, when Mr Modi became Prime Minister, "New Delhi has chased the dream of a prosperous manufacturing sector. Yet to a stunning degree, these efforts have failed." "In 2012-13, exports approached 20% of sales. Last year, they dipped below 7%, and the proportion will likely be even lower this year." ET. Yet, 2000 years ago, Berenike on the shore of the Red Sea was "the landing point for generations of Indian merchants traveling to the Roman Empire." "It was India, not China, that was the greatest trading partner of the Roman Empire." Dawn. But then, there was no central government at the time trying to export people to the UK and not milk to the EU. Doesn't make sense. Does it.