M A I N   N E W S

China likely to set up industrial parks in India
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, August 25
Notwithstanding border tensions between them, the possibility of China setting up industrial parks in India is being explored to reduce the bilateral trade gap heavily tilted in former’s favour.

At the 5th India-China strategic dialogue held earlier this week, the two sides identified five states where the parks could be established. These states are: Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The proposal for Chinese industrial parks in India was made to the Chinese leadership by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid during his visit to Beijing in May. The objective was to attract Chinese investment in Indian infrastructure.

Informed sources said the parks would facilitate Chinese companies which export electronic and other goods to India to establish their service centres in this country. However, the country’s security concerns would be kept in mind while allowing Chinese companies to set up their units in India.

China is also pressing New Delhi to initiate steps for the formation of the ambitious Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor to consolidate trade links among the four nations.

Beijing had recently held talks with both Bangladesh and Myanmar to give a concrete shape to the proposal. However, New Delhi believes a progress on the proposed trade corridor could be made only after India was able to resolve its own transit issues with Bangladesh.

At the same time, there are apprehensions in strategic circles in India that China could use the proposed route to its tactical advantage in the event of a conflict. Fears have also been expressed by trade officials that China could use the route to dump its goods in India’s eastern and northeastern states, giving a body-blow to the Indian businesses who are already finding it difficult to cope with the challenge posed by cheap Chinese merchandise. The proposal for the BCIM corridor was mooted by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in talks with PM Manmohan Singh during his visit to India in May. Premier Li has given firm indications of his desire to promote trade and economic ties even as the two countries make attempts to resolve the lingering boundary dispute.

The idea of the trade corridor, that would link the world’s second largest and the third largest economies, was first mooted by a Chinese scholar in the late 1990s. It had received a positive response from all the four countries concerned. However, it failed to make much headway, thanks to the complex relationship between India and China.

The proposed corridor will link China’s Yunnan province with Kolkata via the territories of Bangladesh and Myanmar, covering 1.65 million sq km.