NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday rejected the criticism over the recent free trade agreements, asserting that few countries were willing to sign FTAs during the UPA dispensation when India was marred by scams and counted among ‘Fragile Five’ economies, while it is now capable of competing with the world.Addressing the ET NOW Global Business Summit, the PM said UPA could conclude FTAs with only four countries, while his govt has signed agreements covering 38 countries.“Who would have confidence in India when policy paralysis and scams marked its governance,” he said in a swipe at the UPA govt. To emphasise what has changed since 2014, he added that new policies and capabilities effected by his govt have led to a transformation.The celebration of FTAs signed seemed to mark a rejection of the criticism by Congress and other opponents as well as the confidence that the charges against the trade deal with the US were not going to wash. “India today is full of self-confidence. It is ready to compete with the world and has built a strong manufacturing ecosystem,” he said. Modi said the post-second World War global order is now crumbling and a new order will emerge, and India is going to be a big basis of global transformation in this century of change.
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