Amid concerns in India over a Chinese presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the denial of a visa to a top Indian Army general, two senior Indian ministers are slated to make high-profile visits here for talks with top Chinese officials.
Human resources development minister Kapil Sibal arrived in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Sunday to take part in the Fourth Summer Davos Forum, beginning from Monday. Over 1,400 top businessmen, government and corporate officials are expected to take part in the forum being organised by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF).
Besides the main theme of “Driving Growth through Sustainability”, strategic issues like reshaping of the competitive landscape in a resource-limited world, the role of Asia’s soft power, the situation in the Korean peninsula and China’s responsibility to the world are expected to come up.
Top Chinese policymakers were also scheduled to take part in the meeting.
Mr Sibal is also scheduled to have talks with Chinese officials in Beijing on September 14 to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two countries on education, science and technology.
Following Mr Sibal’s visit, minister for road transport and highways Kamal Nath will travel to China to take part in two roadshows on India’s massive infrastructure development programme, for which Chinese participation and investment has been welcomed, especially in highways and bridge projects.
The first roadshow will take place in Beijing on September 15 and the second will be held later at Tianjin. A large number of Chinese private and state-owned company officials are expected to take part.
India, which has already opened up for the telecom and power sectors to Chinese investment and technology, wants large-scale Chinese participation in infrastructure projects, as their rates are widely regarded as 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than their Western counterparts. Mr Nath was also expected to have an interaction with top Chinese officials during his stay here.
The visits were lined up well before the recent controversy over the presence of Chinese troops in PoK, as well as the denial of visas to Northern Area Army Commander Lieutenant General B.S. Jaswal.