Chinese President Xi to ask Modi to settle disputes with Pakistan

Islamabad
Chinese President Xi Jinping will impress upon India to settle its disputes with Pakistan through dialogue when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting China next month for his first official trip.
Highly placed diplomatic sources told The News here Sunday that Modi would be visiting China from May 14 to 16 and it would impact the regional situation as China is keen to see early completion of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (PCEC) for the sake of regional connectivity.
Beijing doesn’t want to see any hindrance in the way of its building by any means. India has serious border dispute with China and at the same time it is interested to enhance bilateral trade and investment ties with emerging super world power.
Both the subjects would top on the agenda of discussions, the sources pointed out. Senior Indian officials have been saying these days in background briefings that India is concerned at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan this month.
President Xi made some large-scale economic commitments towards greater connectivity between India’s two neighbours, uneasy at the hands of India throughout the past. It has made New Delhi uncomfortable. In the meanwhile, Pakistan’s ambassador for China, Masood Khalid, has returned to Beijing where he will have long series of consultations with senior Chinese officials for follow up meetings in the wake of PCEC agreements which were inked last week here.
Masood Khalid was here in Islamabad during the visit of the Chinese president. The sources said China is one of India’s leading trade partners. Bilateral trade between both countries crossed $65 billion in 2013, resulting in a wide trade gap of $35 billion in favour of China. As a result, trade and investments will be one of the highlights of the visit of Indian prime minister to China.
During President Xi’s visit to India last year, both sides had signed 12 agreements. Of these, one was on a five-year trade and economic development plan. Under this agreement, both sides had agreed to narrow the trade gap while China committed to invest $20 billion over a span of five years. Highly placed Indian sources revealed that there has not been much progress, though, on how both sides will undertake concrete measures to close the gap.
Besides, the areas or sectors in which the investment will be made have not been clarified yet. So, trade and investment will remain one of the primary subjects besides strategic issues. Modi is expected to visit Beijing and Shanghai.
As a reciprocal gesture, he may also visit President Xi’s home province, Shaanxi. The Chinese president had visited Ahmedabad, home province of Narindra Modi. President Xi and Modi have had three bilateral meetings so far. The sources said that the Indian prime minister is also expected to raise the issue of India having some access to China’s ‘One Belt One Road’, expected to pass through the Indian Ocean, under China’s Maritime Silk Road initiative.
India is also planning to ask China to remove the several non-tariff barriers it imposes on Chinese pharmaceuticals. The officials said that Modi might also push for greater services trade. Indian officials have made a case for increasing trade with China.
Indian government is undertaking a three-pronged strategy for Indian exporters to penetrate deeper into Chinese markets. According to a report – ‘Accelerating Indo-China Economic Engagement’ – by the CII, India’s trade deficit with China is expected to reach $58 billion by 2018. China is also keen to have a free-trade agreement with India, which New Delhi had been reluctant to talk about fearing an onslaught on India’s industry. India and China are also part of the talks on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. President
Xi has invited India to be an observer in the 21-nation APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) trade group. The APEC is seen as an alternative to the mega regional trade pact – Trans-Pacific Partnership. There has been little progress on the development of the industrial parks. The Chinese government had last stated that it will be setting up two such parks in Gujarat and Maharashtra. But it is yet to announce concrete investment proposals there.
The sources are of the view that China and India are expected to seek an early settlement to the controversial boundary issue. This was one of the main talking points when Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and foreign secretary S Jaishankar visited China in February last. Swaraj had proposed a six-point action plan to enhance India-China bilateral relationship but no progress has been reported about t as yet, the sources added.