He said for putting in place such a mechanism, the system in other countries was being examined. "We are not doing something different... Many developed countries in Europe and US have such security rules in place." Nath said investments from China were welcome and "this is misconception that we are proposing country-specific regulatory mechanism." The minister said a free trade agreement (FTA) with China was not on the cards, but "this is something worth examining".
While China is believed to be pushing for a full-fledged FTA, there is a resistance from the Indian industry and a task force is examining various options.
Earlier, minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said at a CII function that while security implications could not be wished away, there has to be a relaxed approach for facilitating Chinese investments.
He, however, said that actual FDI inflows from China have not kept pace with approvals. "As against the approvals for $260 million, only $3 million have been invested by Chinese companies," Ramesh added.
