 "Modi-Xi to discuss India's NSG entry")
India is likely to raise issues from choking terror funding, checking tax evasion, global tax reform, cutting cost of remittances and market access for key drugs at the G20 Summit in China’s Huangzhou that Prime Minister Narendra Modi (pictured) will attend.
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At the G20, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya is India’s sherpa and some of the issues were already discussed in the run up to the summit. There are also likely to be discussions on automatic exchange of tax information at G20, ministry of external affairs (MEA) officials said. India has already agreed to the Automatic Exchange of Information Convention of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental economic organisation of around 35 countries.
At the G20 Summit, the PM is scheduled to have meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two could take forward their discussions on India’s entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). He might also meet US President Barack Obama and some other leaders.
The PM will be the lead speaker at a thematic session on ‘inclusive and interconnected development’. This is the 11th G20 Summit. The first was held in the backdrop of the 2008 global financial crisis. The theme for this year’s summit is Innovative, Invigorated, Inclusive & Interconnected World Economy. Officials said India was looking at the possibility of hosting the 2019 Summit.
The G20 Summit is on September 4 and 5. The PM will travel to China after a two-day state visit to Vietnam starting Friday. Modi will return to New Delhi for a day before leaving for Vientiane, the capital of Laos to attend the 14th India-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit and the 11th East Asia Summit.
However, the PM’s Vietnam visit, which comes at a time of China’s increased assertiveness on the South China Sea, is being considered important. Vietnam and India are important strategic partners. New Delhi considers Hanoi the central pillar of its Act East policy. Modi will have the opportunity to meet the new Vietnamese leadership, elected after the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Congress in January and the National Assembly elections in March.
India and Vietnam have a robust defence cooperation, which Modi’s visit will ikely to consolidate with the Vietnamese having shown interest in the purchase of the BrahMos missiles from New Delhi. Vietnam has also offered additional blocks for oil and gas exploration by India’s ONGC Videsh (OVL).
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Secretary East Preeti Saran said the OVL is currently involved in oil production in Block 6.1, while negotiations are on for Block 128. Saran the Vietnamese side has offered additional blocks and negotiations are going on. India has shown interest in mid-stream and downstream projects as well, she said.
India-Vietnam trade has grown 26 per cent in the last few years to $7.8 billion, with New Delhi having a trade surplus of $2.8 billion. The two countries have set a target of $15 billion bilateral trade by 2020. Tata Power is currently building a 1320 megawatt thermal power plant in South Vietnam at a cost of $1.8 billion. Once completed, it will make India one of the top 10 investors in Vietnam.
At the East Asia Summit, MEA officials said the South China Sea issue will definitely come up for discussion at the Summit. At the India-Asean summit, the discussions will revolve around moving towards the Asean-India Free Trade Agreement, maritime security and traditional as well as non-traditional security threats, officials said. The Asean is New Delhi's fourth largest trading partner. The annual trade registered an average growth of 22 per cent per annum in the decade upto 2011-12, but has stagnated thereafter. It stood at approximately $76.53 billion in 2014-15.
The two-way investment flows are also substantial, with Asean accounting for approximately 12.5 per cent of investment flows into India since 2000.