New Delhi, April 20 -- Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are playing a key role in diversifying India's trade, but they must be viewed as a two-way mechanism where imports are as important as exports for building competitiveness, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery said on Monday.

"FTAs are not a one-way street, nor should they be," Bery said, adding that "in the way that we are seeing them as a tool for market access, others are seeing it as a tool for market access to us."

Speaking during the release of NITI Aayog's latest 'Trade Watch Quarterly' report, he highlighted the importance of imports in strengthening the domestic industry.

"For trade economists, imports matter much more than exports... it's imports that force you to be competit...