India and China will focus on cementing economic ties by signing trade and investment deals worth $10 billion and a cooperation pact on issues related to the World Trade Organization (WTO) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to that country beginning Thursday.
Modi, who is undertaking his first visit to China as Prime Minister, will reach the ancient city of Xi’an, home town of President Xi Jinping, for a summit meeting — an unusual departure from normal protocol and seen as a reciprocal gesture by the Chinese leader, who was hosted by Modi in Ahmedabad when he visited India in September last year.
“I am looking forward to the trip to China... the 21st century belongs to Asia,” Modi told Chinese media ahead of his visit. Modi, who spoke in Hindi, hoped that his visit will “further deepen” India-China relations and set a “new milestone” for Asia and developing countries.
Known for his soft skills, Modi has already wooed the Chinese people by logging into Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. At last count, he had recorded 11.12 million hits.
Multiple agreements Modi and Xi will sign agreements in sectors including railways, industrial corridors, tourism, agriculture and collaborating at the multi-lateral trade forum, while the contentious border dispute could be touched upon, a government official told BusinessLine .
Modi may also urge Xi to deliver on promises he made during his visit to India last year — investments of $20 billion.
“India has communicated to China its concerns over its growing trade deficit with the country, which touched $48 billion. Some of the agreements signed would be to ensure more market access for Indian products,” the official said. New Delhi hopes to be allowed to export buffalo meat, oilmeal and non-basmati rice to China, and wants fewer restrictions for despatches of pharmaceuticals and IT products.
China is likely to commit to investments in the Indian Railways, which could include a pilot project on the Delhi-Agra stretch of the proposed 1,754-km high-speed corridor to Chennai, the official said.
Chinese Ambassador to India Le Yucheng hinted to the media earlier this week that the agreements would amount to no less than $10 billion.
Though an agreement for promotion of tourism is expected, during a media chat Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar remained non-committal about extending e-visas to the Chinese. On the boundary issue, Jaishankar said there was still a long way to go before it could be resolved. The two sides have yet to “reach a stage where there is finality.”
Besides bilateral ties, the two countries have decided to team up at the WTO in areas of common interest to take on developed members such as the US and the EU. Getting the WTO to deliver a ‘permanent solution’ to the problem of calculating trade-distorting food procurement subsidies by December is expected to top the ‘common interest’ list. It is necessary to ensure that the food security programmes of the two countries do not come under the WTO’s scanner.
Casting a small shadow just ahead of the visit, New Delhi took on Beijing for helping Islamabad develop infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The other issues of concern that Modi may take up include stapled visas for Indians from Arunachal Pradesh and the presence of Chinese troops in PoK.
With inputs from Ashwini Phadnis