)
Indian businessmen on Wednesday signed deals worth $3.43 billion with their Chinese counterparts who are part of a delegation accompanying President XI Jinping here.
The bulk of that amount was cornered by domestic low-cost carrier IndiGo Airlines which struck an agreement worth $2.6 billion with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for leasing and financing 30 aircraft. IndiGo's president Aditya Ghosh and Jiang Bo, managing director of ICBC Leasing, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect, under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerceand Industry (Ficci).
Reliance Communications’ President C S Rao signed two MoUs, worth about $150 million each, with Chinese telecommunications firms ZTE and Huawei Technologies, respecitvely, for equipment and expansion of Reliance’s 2G and 3G networks.
“These agreements are an effort by our companies to address the issue of trade deficit. Besides, with our expertise in infrastructure development, China wants to cooperate with India in developing its infrastructure,” said Wang Hejun, economic counsellor with the embassy of the People's Republic of China.
China will also develop and upgrade the 640-km railway line between Bangalore and Mysore (through Chennai). In the financial services sector, state-owned Bank of China is expected to open a bank branch in Mumbai. China also plans to offer credit lines worth billions of dollars through EXIM Bank of India.
These investment plans were finalised during commerce & industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent visit to Beijing in June. During her visit, she had held extensive discussions with her Chinese counterpart, Gao Hucheng, to address the soaring trade deficit between the two countries.
For 2013-14, the trade deficit between India and China was $36.2 billion, in China's favour. While India exported goods worth $14.8 billion, its imports stood at $51 billion. The two countries have also set up a services trade promotion group for greater market access and job opportunities for professionals in both countries through a relaxed visa regime.
On Wednesday, several other MoUs were signed in sectors such as wind energy, seafood, chemicals, cotton and pharmaceuticals.
FROM CHINA, WITH LOVE
- IndiGo Airlines signs $2.6-billion leasing and financing MoU with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
- China in talks with Air India to sign a deal worth $2 billion to lease & finance aircraft
- China to develop existing rail line between Bangalore and Mysore
- Bank of China to open branch in Mumbai
- EXIM Bank of China to offer credit line of $1 billion soon
- India and China announce setting up of services trade promotion group for professionals
MEANWHILE, ON THE SIDELINES
FACE-OFF IN CHUMAR
The Chinese army on Wednesday reportedly made a fresh incursion in Chumar area and refused to return even as a flag-meeting between the two sides is believed to have made no headway in breaking the deadlock. The Brigadier-level meeting was held in Chushul, where the issue of intrusion of Chinese civilians in the Demchok area was also discussed, army sources said.
VIETNAM ANGLE
President Pranab Mukherjee said India's pact with Vietnam for possible oil exploration in the disputed South China Sea was “just a commercial action” and the country had never commented about issues of “sovereignty” over those waters. The President, while talking to reporters on board his special aircraft after wrapping up his four-day state visit to the Southeast Asian country, said no “connection” should be seen between this tour and the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India. Mukherjee will receive Jinping at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.
TIBETANS PROTEST
Ten Tibetans were detained after they staged a protest outside the Chinese embassy against the visit of President Xi Jinping to India. Protestors also demanded independence of Tibet from China.
‘STRATEGIC VALUE’
Chinese-Indian cooperation was of enormous strategic value for New Delhi and such a relationship couldn’t be “duplicated”by its bilateral ties with any other country, Chinese daily Global Times said. “The better China-India relations develop, the more advantages and initiatives India can have when dealing with the US and Japan.”
Source: Agencies
