Of a handshake across the Himalayas....

Chinese premier Li Keqiang made a resounding case for greater partnership between India and China, and, for the first time for any major leader from across the Himalayas, obliquely referred to India’s burgeoning ties with the US, suggesting, without naming names, that it was a case of picking a distant relative over a neighbour.
“A country may choose its friends, but not its neighbours. As an ancient proverb says, a distant relative may not be as useful as a near neighbour. With a long border and extensive common interests, China and India should not seek cooperation from afar, while neglecting the partner close by,” Li said.
He was addressing a gathering of businessmen at an event organised by the Indian Council for World Affairs and the industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. This was his first public event since arriving in India on Sunday.
He said his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were “candid, frank and fruitful”, adding that the two sides did not shy away from discussing the border question and had agreed to push forward negotiation. The two countries had the “wisdom” to find a solution to the border question, he said. “A few clouds in the sky cannot shut out brilliant sun rays of our friendship,” he said.
Li said he was confident that the persistent trade imbalance could be overcome and that a balanced trade relationship alone was sustainable. “I am confident that we have the ability to mitigate the trade imbalance between our two counties and China never has any intention to seek trade surplus.” He said he will work on improving market access for Indian firms and that negotiations on a regional free-trade agreement will be pursued.

Li struck the right opening note by saying ‘Namaste’, and then adding that he hadn’t had an opportunity to use the word in 27 years. He fondly recalled his visit to India as part of a youth delegation in 1986. “Twenty seven years ago I visited India and I was deeply impressed by India’s vast territory, time honoured civilisation as well as hardworking and talented people.”
His frankness and easy body language that Indian diplomats had found remarkable was on display for everyone. He said Indian songs, movies and yoga were popular in China the way Chinese food and Kung Fu were popular here. “The most important outcomes of these meetings we had were that we have expanded our strategic mutual trust and reached a number of new positive outcomes,” Li said. He illustrated the combined power of the two countries with an example: “If every one of our combined 2.5 billion population would buy a new mobile phone, it would blow up the order lists of IT manufacturers and operators in the world.”

Chinese Prime Minister Li Kequiang who met Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his delegation of state officials told them he was interested in the ongoing multicrore Mumbai makeover.

An official press release from the chief minister’s office said Kequiang had noted that Mumbai had undergone a sea change in the last 27 years, when he had visited last.
Kequiang was keen on learning about the state and Centre’s efforts for the Mumbai makeover. He also showed interest in the state policy of incentivising industries in backwards regions to spur employment.
The state had recently unveiled the new industrial policy that focuses on micro, small and medium enterprises, besides sectors like IT, manufacturing, automobile etc.
The visit of the Chinese premier is being read as a feather in the cap for Chavan given the competition from several states, including neighbouring Gujarat, to woo investors. Kequiang discussed issues mostly related to infrastructure and industry for 45 minutes.
Chavan highlighted the city’s big-ticket transport infrastructure projects and the proposed Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. He also offered to set up a special investment zone for Chinese companies interested in investing in the state.
Four major Chinese companies have already invested in Maharashtra. Chinese auto major Deigue Foton has recently set up a unit for production of utility vehicles at Chakan, an automobile hub near Pune.
Chavan said the Chinese premier’s visit, like that of British prime minister and the French president to Mumbai to explore investment opportunities, has been an endorsement of development in the state.
“The Chinese delegation was interested in investing in and around Pune and expressed special interest in automobile sector and setting up of an industrial township around the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor,” said a senior bureaucrat present in the meeting.

India & China

India and China appeared to have salvaged relations that came precariously close to faltering just weeks ago over a thorny border dispute as premier Li Keqiang struck a clear note about the need for “mutual strategic trust” and stronger bilateral ties, and the two sides agreed to expand trade and defence cooperation.
The border dispute featured prominently in talks but did not appear to have cast a shadow over wide-ranging discussions that the foreign office characterised as “significant, substantive and productive”. Premier Li’s “warm” and “outgoing” personality set the atmosphere for talks, a senior diplomat said.
The two sides signed a raft of agreements relating to trade, agriculture, meat exports, micro-irrigation and sharing of information relating to flood waters, among others. A joint statement laid out a detailed blueprint for cooperation in areas such as railways, civil nuclear energy and allowing greater market access. A proposed Border Defence Cooperation Agreement did not come up for discussion even though both sides have exchanged drafts.
“We also took stock of lessons learnt from the recent incident in the Western Sector, when existing mechanisms proved their worth. We tasked our Special Representatives to consider further measures that may be needed to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. The two sides will strive to take bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2015, even as China has for the first time agreed to take measures to address the sharp imbalance in trade. “I would say, in the last few years certainly this was the most positive and most practical response that we have got at the high level from the Chinese side,” India’s ambassador to Beijing, S Jaishankar, said. The two sides agreed that allowing greater investments across the border was part of the solution to the trade imbalance problem. The first meeting of the India-China CEOs forum also took place on Monday. The two sides also took forward a proposed free-trade agreement. Li painted an ambitious vision for stronger partnership with the two countries, saying world peace “cannot be a reality without strategic trust between India and China”. “The purpose of my current visit to India is three-fold — to increase mutual trust, to intensify cooperation and to face the future,” Li said, adding that on the basis of deeper mutual trust, the two countries can build a new type of relations between major countries. “That will be a true blessing for Asia and the world.” The two sides agreed to work on a more liberalised visa regime and to expand tourism and people-to-people contact. On India’s concern about the dams China was building on Brahmaputra, Jaishankar said we received a sympathetic response. “They pointed out that they were responsible, that they would not do something which would damage our interests.”
Singh has accepted Li’s invitation to visit China. Ahead of this visit, defence minister AK Antony will visit China soon, as will NSA Shivshankar Menon, who will meet his counterpart.


Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said India and China have the “wisdom” to find mutually acceptable solution to the boundary problem and the two countries have not shied away from addressing the vexed issue.
Mr. Li also said China will support its enterprises to increase investments in India and help Indian products have access to Chinese market as he supported a favourable trade balance in a bid to decrease mounting bilateral trade deficit.
A day after two rounds of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Li said China has the intention to “sincerely” resolving the pending issues, including that of cross-border rivers, and favoured increased bilateral relations between the two big neighbours.
Addressing the Indian industry at a function organised by FICCI in Delhi, the Chinese Premier said cooperation between the two big neighbours will lead to a “new paradigm” of cooperation.
He also quoted a Chinese proverb — a distant relative may not be useful as a near neighbour — to emphasise on the relations between the two neighbours.
Invoking ancient relations between the two, he said, “We will be able to take the bilateral relations to new heights. We have launched a new agenda...taking India-China relations to a new starting point for further growth,” he said.
“We are one-third of world’s total population and our interactions attract the world. Without doubt, China-India relations are most important global relations,” he said.
Stressing on the need for increased people-to-people interaction between India and China, Mr. Li declared 2014 as the year of exchanges between the two nations “so as to boost our understanding and friendship”.
Mr. Li favoured peace and stability in the South-East Asia region and hoped the “relevant issues” will be resolved soon.
“We have also discussed issues of regional security. We hope there is peace and stability in South Asia and a stable South-East Asia is consistent with China’s interests,” he said.
On India-China trade relations, Mr. Li said it is imperative for the two countries to maintain a “dynamic trade balance”.
While striving to realise the trade turnover target of USD 100 billion by 2015, the two countries agreed to take measures to address the issue of trade imbalance. These include cooperation on pharmaceutical supervision, including registration, stronger links between Chinese enterprises and Indian IT industry, the joint statement said.
Mr. Li said peaceful co-existence between India and China will be of global significance and they should seek cooperation from not afar but closely.
The cooperation between the two countries will induct a “new dynamism” in its relations, he said.
Noting that China is still a developing country, he said, “I want the voice of developing countries to be stronger. China and India are linked to each other through natural boundaries. Our friendly relations date back to ancient time.”