Sunday Times 2
Indian, Chinese firms sign deals worth $22 billion
View(s):SHANGHAI, May 16 (AFP) -Indian and Chinese firms signed 21 agreements officials said were worth a total of more than $22 billion in Shanghai today, witnessed by visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing (REUTERS)
“Let us work together in mutual interests,” Modi told executives from 200 Chinese and Indian companies at the signing ceremony. “Now India is ready for business.” The nationalist leader was on the final day of a three-day trip to his fellow Asian giant, as the two jockey for regional influence and India’s trade deficit with China balloons.
Despite his hardline reputation Modi has moved to engage with Beijing since his election last year, and he was looking for an economic boost from the visit, seeking to deliver on election promises for foreign investment.
China is India’s biggest trading partner with two-way commerce totalling $71 billion in 2014. But India’s trade deficit with China has soared from just $1 billion in 2001-02 to more than $38 billion last year, Indian figures show.
Indian embassy trade counsellor Namgya Khanpa said the agreements signed at the Shanghai event were “worth over $22 billion”, with another five exchanged earlier.
A list circulated by Indian officials showed many of the contracts were for Chinese banks to finance Indian firms, and also included deals in the telecom, steel, solar energy and film sectors.
The two countries have followed significantly different economic paths in recent decades, with China rising to become the world’s second-largest economy while India has lagged behind, although Modi’s election raised hopes for reform among investors.
“I strongly believe that this century belongs to Asia,” he told a business forum ahead of the signing, as he sought to stress historical links between the two countries.
He welcomed Chinese investment in sectors including housing, renewable energy, high-speed rail, metro, ports and airports, adding that India was eager to draw on China’s expertise in mass manufacturing.
“We are keen to develop areas in which China is strong,” he said. “We need your involvement.”
| China’s defence of sovereignty ‘unshakeable’: foreign minister BEIJING, May 16 (AFP) -Beijing’s determination to defend its sovereignty is “unshakeable”, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the top US diplomat John Kerry today as tensions between the powers mount over island-building in the disputed South China Sea. “The determination of the Chinese side to safeguard our own sovereignty and territorial integrity is as firm as a rock and it is unshakeable,” Wang said at a joint press conference after talks with the visiting secretary of state. |