TibetanReview.net, Jan 21, 2010 China has asked India “to avoid being misguided by provocations from either side or by media sensationalism” and agreed to take active steps to address India’s fast-growing trade deficit with China, which crossed the $ 14-billion mark last year, reported The Hindu newspaper (India) Jan 20. The assurances were given by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in his meeting with the visiting Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry Mr Anand Sharma.
Mr Sharma, who was in Beijing to attend the eighth Joint Economic Group dialogue (JEG), or the China-India joint group on economy, trade, science and technology, during his Jan 18-19 visit.
The report also said Premier Wen called on both counties to take “constructive measures” to ease tensions over the long-running border dispute, which had strained ties between the ‘neighbours’ in recent months.
China’s official Xinhua news agency Jan 19 cited Wen as saying the two countries were not competitive opponents but cooperative partners. "Only if China and India achieve common development and prosperity could we have a real Asia century," it quoted him as telling Mr Sharma.
Or this purpose, Wen had said his country would work with India to boost good-neighbourly friendship, increase coordinations in major international issues, and expand cooperation in trade, investment and other sectors. "This will help promote the continuous stable growth of China-India ties," he was quoted as saying.
The report cited Sharma as saying Indian leaders were devoted to strengthening the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.
During the JEG meeting with his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming, an India-China MOU on expansion of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries was signed. The MOU provides for the Chinese side to import as much of its requirement of value added goods from India as possible, reported The Economic Times online (India) Jan 20.
China is India’s largest trade partner, while India is China’s tenth largest partner. However, the balance is heavily in China’s favour. India’s annual exports to China stand at about $11 billion, while China exports goods worth $27 billion to India.
Source : TibetanReview.net