India, Nov. 8 -- India's recent export performance offers grounds for cautious optimism. Amidst uncertainty over the US market, India's merchandise exports to several Asian and African markets expanded hugely during the first half of 2026-27. These include China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Tanzania. Interestingly, exports to Spain also improved substantially. For the first half of 2026-27, merchandise exports increased by 18.51 per cent to US$259.89 billion from US$219.30 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Total exports of goods and services rose by 13.84 per cent to US$476.20 billion.

This could happen despite the fact that there has been a setback in exports UAE which has been a major destin...