By IRNA,
New Delhi : In order to minimize the effects of global economic meltdown, India and China need to strengthen the bilateral trade and economic relations, a top Indian official said.
Speaking at the India-China bilateral meeting here on Wednesday, India’s Commerce Secretary G K Pillai requested the Chinese side to explore the possibility of more diversified exports from India.
“Given the immense potential the two countries have, in both production and the consumption capabilities, we need to work more closely to remove all the minor irritants that creep into our economic and trade relations”, he added.
The bilateral meeting was attended by the Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan and senior officials from both the countries.
During the discussions, Pillai informed the visiting Chinese Minister that the two countries could gain a lot by providing faster market access to pharmaceuticals and drugs.
The Commerce Secretary also requested the Chinese side to grant market access to 14 fruits and vegetables at the earliest, as it was pending since long.
Both sides felt that there is a need for increasing bilateral investments between the two countries and the main sectors for investments could be petrochemicals, steel, healthcare, IT, automobiles, biotechnology, renewable energy and low-carbon technologies.
India-China bilateral trade during 2007-08 was to the tune of $ 37.9 billion (exports – $ 10.8 billion and imports $ 27.1 billion). The major items of exports from India to China are ores, cotton yarn and fabric, organic and inorganic chemicals, precious stones and metals as well as the machinery while the major items of imports from China to India are electrical machinery, organic chemicals, Iron and steel, fertilizers and mineral fuel.
During the seventh session of the Joint Study Group (JSG) held in New Delhi, it was recommended that the existing JEG (Joint Economic Group on Economic Relations and Trade, Science and Technology) mechanism be fully activated.
The eighth session of India-China JEG is to be held in Beijing.