China, India ink 3 pacts on 1st day of Xi’s visit
September 17, 2014, 5:11 pm

Bilateral trade between India and China reached about $65.5 billion last year [PMO, India]

The three pacts include making Guangzhou city in China and Gujarat’s capital Ahmedabad as sister cities, setting up of industrial parks in this Western Indian state and an agreement between Guangdong province and the Gujarat government for development of cultural and social ties between the two provinces, officials said.

The agreement, aimed at developing industrial parks, was signed between China Development Bank (CDB) and Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb) of the state government. It envisages promoting the bilateral trade and setting up of industrial parks in the state, especially for electronics and electrical goods.

Bilateral trade between India and China reached about $65.5 billion last year. The two countries have set a target of increasing their annual bilateral trade volume to $100 billion by 2015.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived Wednesday in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, starting his three-day visit to the South Asian neighbor.

Xi said he looks forward to meeting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee as well as politicians of different parties in order to chart the course for the future development of China-India relations and open up a new chapter in bilateral interaction.

China will announce massive investment funds, amounting to $100 billion for modernising Indian railways and building roads, ports and river-linking projects during Xi’s meet with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday in the Indian capital.

China is India’s largest trading partner, while India is China’s biggest in South Asia.

Xi is going to push for enlisting Indian participation in the grand Silk Route Economic belt project of Beijing during further talks with Modi in New Delhi on Thursday.

“We need to jointly develop the BCIM Economic Corridor, discuss the initiatives of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and lead the sustainable growth of the Asian economy,” said Xi.

India is the last stop of Xi’s four-nation tour in Central and South Asia, which has already taken him to Tajikistan, Maldives and Sri Lanka. In Tajikistan, he also attended a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

TBP and Agencies