Ø “A green
light has been switched on,” is how one businessman described the interest
shown by Chinese businessmen in investing in India following Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit and meeting with top CEOs, including Jack Ma of Alibaba
and Lin Min of Xiaomi, in Shanghai on Saturday. At the meeting, followed by a
conference of Indian and Chinese CEOs, 21 agreements or MoUs estimated at a
total of $22 billion were signed. Funding from Chinese banks ICBC and China
Development Bank for Airtel, Adani Power Company and Jindal Steel and Power
accounted for the major part of the agreement total, as did tie-ups for
renewable energy companies. The Adani Group, in particular, bagged several MoUs
for its Mundra port, including a “sister-port” agreement with the Guangzhou
Port Authority. “I want to tell you to make in India,” Mr. Modi said in his
opening lines to the businessmen, adding that as China is the world’s
manufacturing base and India runs the “back-offices,” it would be best if the
two collaborate on digital commerce. “We are very excited about India, ‘Make in
India’ and ‘Digital India,’” said Mr. Ma, the owner of the world’s biggest
online commerce company which processed transactions of $248 billion last year.
Mr. Ma made two visits to India recently and is finalising plans to set up operations
there.
Ø An
Egyptian court sentenced the ousted President, Mohamed Morsy, and over 100
others to death on Saturday over a mass prison break during the 2011 uprising
that toppled Hosni Mubarak and later brought Islamists to power for the first
time in Egypt. As is customary in passing the capital punishment, Judge Shaaban
el-Shami referred the death sentence to the nation’s top Muslim theologian, or
mufti, for his non-binding opinion.
Ø With
China and India agreeing to narrow the trade deficit at a meeting between Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the greater challenge
will be to convince Chinese businesses to manufacture in India and set up
factories there. The two countries share bilateral trade of $70 billion, making
China India’s biggest trading partner, but the figure is worryingly skewed,
with an estimated $40 billion in favour of China.
Ø The Rs. 2,900-crore deal to procure M-777 Ultra-Light Howitzers (ULH) from
the U.S. through the foreign military Sales (FMS) route will lead to
investments of over $ 200 million under offset requirements. This deal and
other gun upgrades will boost the Army’s firepower, which is critically short
of guns, and will give an impetus to the ‘Make in India’ initiative. “This
envisages investments in approximately 40 Indian defence suppliers across the
country as well as an offer to establish an Assembly Integration & Test
facility for the weapon system in India in partnership with an Indian
industrial company,” John Kelly of BAE Systems told. Meanwhile, the
indigenously upgraded Bofors gun ‘Dhanush’ is all set for induction with all
evaluations successfully completed. The upgrade was done by the Ordinance
Factory Board based on the design of the original Bofors gun acquired in the
1980’s and is 80 per cent indigenous. The Army has already placed an order for
114 guns and expressed interest for 300 more.
Ø Mr. Xi
and Mr. Modi spent more than five hours together. In addition to official
meetings, the two leaders visited Dacien Temple and Wild Goose Pagoda, built in
commemoration of Xuanzang, the eminent Chinese monk who went on a pilgrimage to
India for Buddhist scriptures, and watched a traditional cultural performance
together. Mr. Xi held a special banquet for Mr. Modi at the ancient city wall
complex. It is particularly worth noting that it is the first time Mr. Xi
hosted a foreign leader outside Beijing. And the visit in a way reciprocates
Mr. Xi’s visit to Mr. Modi’s home State, Gujarat, last year. There is a special
bond between the two places as Xuanzang pursued Buddhist learning in Gujarat
and it was from there that he brought Buddhist scriptures back to the then
capital of Tang Dynasty, Xian, and translated and taught the scriptures there.
In Beijing, Premier Li held a warm official welcome ceremony and state banquet
for Mr. Modi. The two leaders spent almost a whole day together, including
official meetings that went much longer than expected, attendance in the first
China-India State and Provincial Leaders’ Forum and a Yoga-Taichi demonstration
event. A Cabinet Minister accompanied Mr. Modi throughout his visit in Beijing
and Shanghai as representative of the Chinese government, a rare practice in
many years. Each leg of the visit was marked by senior-level attendance,
including vice-speakers of Parliament, several Cabinet ministers, including the
Foreign Minister and the Commerce Minister, governors and mayors. All these
special arrangements, senior attendance and high-level reception attest to the
importance China attaches to the visit and the friendly relations between our
two countries. A record number of 45 agreements were signed during the visit,
including 24 inter-governmental agreements in outer space, cyberspace,
earthquake preparedness, maritime science, smart city, consular establishment,
finance, education, exchanges between political parties, States and Provinces,
think tanks and so on, and 21 business agreements worth $22 billion. Third, the
visit was conducted in a super friendly atmosphere. Mr. Modi opened a Chinese
Weibo account to say Ni Hao (hello) to the Chinese people and met Chinese
journalists before the much-anticipated visit. Throughout the visit, he was
warmly received by the Chinese government and people. Everywhere he went, the
feeling of warmth and friendship was very much in the air. The choice of Xian,
the symbol and witness of the millennium-old friendly exchanges between the
Indian and Chinese peoples, is in itself of great significance. There, Mr. Modi
visited the famous Terracotta Warriors and Daxingshan Temple, where three
eminent Indian monks taught and promoted Buddhism more than 1,400 years ago.
Hundreds of thousands of residents lined up the streets to welcome Mr. Modi,
waving and shouting “Modi, Modi”, all eager to catch a glimpse and maybe take a
picture of the Prime Minister. Moved by their enthusiasm, Mr. Modi stopped the
motorcade to interact with local people.
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