India looks to resolve trade barriers with China as CSACF commences

By Sahil Pandey
Kunming [China], Jun 11 : As Yunan province is all set to host the China-South Asia Cooperation Forum (CSACF), Chairman of Indian Chamber of Commerce (North-East) Mahesh Saharia has said that such forums can be helpful in removing the existing trade barriers between the two countries.
"In such forums, we need to talk about the possibilities of furthering exports from India to China and removing those barriers particularly in pharmaceuticals and IT industries because our basket of goods in the Chinese market is limited. We have to find areas where we are stronger," Saharia told ANI.
Highlighting the importance of Yunan, Saharia said, "Yunan as such borders South Asia and South-East Asia. They have the responsibility in China to improve relations. East and North-East of India are closest to China. BCIM (Bangladesh-China- India-Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation) is there already. This kind of forum is helpful but a small percentage of gain makes a lot of difference. "
Talking about the future of Indo-China trade, he acknowledged that there are difficulties in trade.
"China is growing very fast. We are looking towards China. They are our largest trading partner. What is happening is that we are unable to export to China due to certain reasons," Saharia said.
"Similarly we need their investment in India. To make that investment, we need to use such forums so that we can invite them to come and there are certain communication gaps which can be removed so that they feel confident that they come and invest," he added.
Asked how the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping can boost trade ties, Saharia said that individual relation between leaders do help, but only to a certain extent.
"It is the ground reality that ultimately works out," he added.
The 2nd CSACF, under the theme of "Stronger Sub-national Partnership for Win-Win Opportunities", is aimed at promoting policy dialogues, investment in economic trade, people-to-people communications and experience sharing and consolidate integrated cooperation and development between China and South Asian countries.
Yunan Province is ready to deepen cooperation with local governments in South Asian countries and work towards common interests with mutual benefits.