China Hopes For More Fair And Friendly Business Environment For Its Companies In India

More than a thousand Chinese companies have invested $8 billion in India and created 200,000 local jobs, and they must get a “more fair and friendly” business environment, said Beijing’s ambassador to New Delhi on Tuesday.

India and China should resolve disputes peacefully through dialogue, said Sun Weidong days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet near Chennai in Mamallapuram for an informal summit.

“China encourages Chinese companies to invest in India and hopes that India will provide a more fair, friendly and convenient business environment for Chinese companies to operate in India,” he said in an interview to PTI.

“At the regional level, we should resolve disputes peacefully through dialogues and consultations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability,” he said.

Mamallapuram, an ancient coastal town, is being prepared the summit, but both sides are yet to announce the dates for Xi’s visit. It is learnt that he will arrive in Chennai on Friday for a nearly 24-hour long trip, reported PTI.

Ties between the two countries strained when India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy and bifurcated the state into two Union territories. China criticised India’s decision and its Foreign Minister Wang Yi raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly last month.

China’s ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, said days later that his country was working for Kashmiris to help them get their fundamental rights and justice–comments which have not gone down well with New Delhi.

At Mamallapuram, Modi and Xi are likely to talk about mutual development and expanding ties.

“We should go beyond the model of differences management, actively shape bilateral relations and accumulate positive energy. We should enhance exchanges and cooperation, promote convergence of interests and achieve common development,” said Sun.

On the decades-old boundary question, the envoy said it is normal for neighbours to have differences and the key is to find a solution through dialogue and consultation.

“Over the past decades, no single bullet has been fired at the China-India border area, and peace and tranquility has been maintained. Boundary question is only part of China-India relations,” Sun said.

“We need to keep it in the larger picture of China-India relations and do not let the boundary dispute affect the normal development of bilateral relations,” he said.

“I am convinced that China and India have the vision and capability to chart a course of common development and win-win cooperation among emerging countries and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future.”

The first informal summit between Modi and Xi took place in picturesque Chinese lake city Wuhan in April 2018, months after a 73-day long face off between the armies of the two countries in Doklam tri-junction in Sikkim sector raised fears of a war between the two Asian giants.

In the summit, Modi and Xi decided to issue “strategic guidance” to their militaries to strengthen communication and build trust and understanding.―Business Today