India’s Economy Strong, Surat to Gain Big from India-EU Trade Pact: IIFT VC

Surat | Gujarat — India’s economy continues to demonstrate strong resilience amid global economic uncertainties, said Dr. Rakesh Mohan Joshi, Vice-Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), during his visit to the diamond city of Surat on Friday. He was speaking on the sidelines of the 4th convocation ceremony of Sarvajanik University, organised by the Sarvajanik Education Society (SES) at its Athwalines campus.

While talking with the reporters,  Dr. Joshi highlighted India’s robust macroeconomic performance and growing global confidence. “India has been moving ahead at a remarkable pace despite international economic turbulence. At one point, even former US President Donald Trump believed that India’s economy would collapse, but the reality has proved otherwise,” he said.

The convocation ceremony was attended by Dr.Rakesh Mohan Joshi, VC of IIFT as chief guest and Ravi R Tripathi, former judge of Gujarat High court.

Dr. Joshi pointed out that India recorded an impressive GDP growth of 8.2% in the second quarter of 2025, reflecting the strength of domestic demand and policy stability. Dr. Joshi also noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised India’s 2025–26 GDP growth projection upward to 6.6%, from an earlier estimate of 6.4%, which is more than double the forecast for the United States.

“There is absolutely nothing to worry about India’s economic future. I remain highly optimistic about the country’s export growth and overall economic prospects,” he added.

Dr.Joshi said, “The India-European Union (EU) trade agreement is going to be a very historic and landmark thing. It started in 2007 and after that we started in 2022, so it took 18 years for the negotiations between India and EU. Now from 24 chapters, we have agreed on 22 chapters. EU consists of 25% of the world economy and India has got a very huge market”

“Surat is going to get a huge share of the India-EU trade agreement as the textile exporters will get a huge market for exports of various textile products. The issue of unemployment and overproduction in the textile industry will cease to exist.” said Dr. Joshi.

Ashish Vakil, president of Sarvajanik University said, “About 2114 students from various faculties and constituent colleges of the university will be conferred degree certificates across the UG and PG, and PGD programmes. About 53 gold medals will be awarded to the meritorious students”

Vakil stated that the Sarvajanik University offers 53 undergraduate, postgraduate diploma, post graduate, and doctoral programmes to over 9,239 students catering to the evolving needs of students and society alike.