Xi to visit India as ties thaw
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday committed to continue improving ties between Asia's most populous countries in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a summit in China.
The Chinese leader accepted PM Modi's invitation for an "informal summit" like the two had in Wuhan just weeks ago to build upon the progress. The summit is expected to take place in 2019.
Xi was hosting leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the coastal city of Qingdao over the weekend. The China-led grouping includes India, Russia, Pakistan and several Central Asian countries, as well as Iran as an observer state.
"Met this year's SCO host, President Xi Jinping this evening," PM Modi tweeted yesterday. "We had detailed discussions on bilateral and global issues. Our talks will add further vigor to the India-China friendship."
In a growing sign of improving ties, the two nations signed agreements on the export of rice from India and information sharing between China and India on the Brahmaputra River.
Under the two deals, China will share hydrological data on the Brahmaputra river and amend certain requirements on Indian exports of rice other than the premium Basmati variety to China, India's foreign ministry spokesman, Raveesh Kumar, said on Twitter.
India said last year that China had not stuck to an agreement to share hydrological data, or scientific information on the movement, distribution and quality of water for the Brahmaputra river. China had cited "technological" reasons.
New Delhi has also been concerned about the rising trade deficit with China, and has sought greater access to the world's second-largest economy for products such as rice, rapeseed, soybeans and sugar.
India's trade gap with China has widened to $51 billion, a nine-fold increase over the past decade.
The rice deal should help India finally crack the market in China, the world's biggest buyer of the commodity, traders said.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that China will buy 6.4 million tonnes of rice in 2018, while India will export a total of 11.9 million tonnes.
In late April, Modi and Xi held an informal meeting in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where they agreed to have their two armies strengthen communication links. The meeting was arranged to help maintain peaceful relations in a tense bilateral relationship that frayed significantly over a border dispute in the Himalayas last year. It was held at a time when global tensions were on the rise from North Korea to a brewing global trade war.
India and Pakistan joined the SCO as full member states in June 2017.
Comments