Amid rising tensions between both countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be meeting on Sunday when India is expected to make yet another attempt to secure Chinese support for its membership bid at the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG).
However, this time the situation has changed from last time and India has an “edge over” China. This is because of India becoming a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Now, China would require India’s nod to become a member in that group, officials told BusinessLine .
China had scuttled India’s chances of becoming a member of the NSG during a plenary meeting of the grouping citing procedural issues as India is not signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Prior to the NSG meet, Modi had met Xi in Tashkent when he had asked the Chinese President to make a “fair and objective” assessment of India’s NSG application on merit.
MTCR is one of the four global nuclear export control regimes, including the NSG, the Wassenaar Agreement and the Australia Group.
Modi, who will be meeting Xi on the sidelines of G-20 meet in Hangzhou, on Sunday, is also expected to express India’s concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative.
India is miffed about the fact that some portions of the corridor will be passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The issue was raised by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj when she met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last month.
Trade and InvestmentsModi is expected to draw urgent attention of the Chinese President to India’s gaping trade deficit with China, which crossed $52 billion in 2014-15 and accounted for almost half of the country’s total trade deficit.
Despite repeated assurances by China, including the one given to the Indian Prime Minister during his visit last year, India’s exports to its neighbour have been declining while imports have been going up.
In 2015-16, India’s exports to China dropped 24.35 per cent to $9.02 billion while its imports from the country increased 2.13 per cent to $61.70 billion, according to official data.
“We have sent our inputs to the PMO on the areas such as meat products, pharmaceuticals and IT/ITES, where the Chinese promised to help increase imports to reduce the trade gap, but have failed to deliver,” said a Commerce Ministry official requesting anonymity.
While China did send its team of inspectors to India’s meat export facilities following Modi’s visit last year, things haven’t moved beyond that.
Even in the area of pharmaceuticals and IT/ITES, the Chinese had promised to help Indian industry bid for government contracts and also relax registration rules.
China on its part might ask India to come clear on its stance at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnerhship (RCEP), where India has refused to go for zero duty tariffs.
Apparently, the PMO is also irked with China’s lacklustre attitude in setting up the promised industrial parks that was expected to see investments worth $20 billion for the next five years from 2015.