South Asia’s trade architecture matters

The year 2023 witnessed a continuation of the multi-faced polycrisis ranging from lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and tightening monetary policies across countries to the rise of geopolitical tensions linked to the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, as mentioned by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Interim Budget of 2024-25. This clouds global trade, which will have significant implications for South Asia in the background of the slowing down…