India and China elevate relationship to 'strategic' level
New Delhi: China has expressed its support for India's bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations' Security Council, even as the two countries have upgraded their ties to the status of a "strategic and cooperative partnership." The two countries have also agreed on a set of eleven political parameters and Guiding Principles to resolve the boundary dispute.

A total of eleven agreements were signed and a report of the Joint Study Group on trade and economic cooperation was also made public. As promised, China has recognised "Sikkim State" as part of the "Republic of India" and handed over a new, official map to India clearly showing Sikkim as part of Indian territory.

The two countries have also arrived at an agreement on the "modalities" to implement the confidence-building measures along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by enhancing contacts between the two militaries, along with other practical measures designed to prevent escalation and face-offs.

A joint statement has said that India and China agreed that their relations had now acquired a "global and strategic" character. "The leaders of the two countries have, therefore, agreed to establish an India-China strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity."

The two Prime Ministers have also agreed to appoint a joint task force to study the feasibility of and the benefits that may flow from an India-China regional trading arrangement while setting up a "financial dialogue mechanism" to facilitate diversifying economic cooperation.

The "Guiding Principles" states that the two countries were seeking a "political settlement" of the boundary question in the context of their overall and long-term interests. "Neither side shall use or threaten to use force against the other by any means," the agreement said.

"Both sides should, in the spirit of mutual respect and mutual understanding, make meaningful and mutually acceptable adjustments to their respective positions on the boundary question, so as to arrive at a package settlement to the boundary question. The boundary settlement must be final, covering all sectors of the India-China boundary," it said.

"In reaching a boundary settlement, the two sides shall safeguard due interests of their settled populations in the border areas," the accord said. The two Special Representatives would now work to set up a framework for a settlement.

India and China have also signed agreements on mutual assistance in customs matters, and expansion of civil aviation links, amongst a host of others.
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India and China to conduct joint feasibility study for FTA
New Delhi: China has spelt out a five-point agenda, which envisages reduction in trade barriers and enhancement of multilateral cooperation, in order to boost bilateral trade to the $30 billion level by 2010 and increase investment.

"We have set an objective (in the joint statement) to increase the two-way trade from $13.6 billion at present to $20 billion by 2008 and we plan to take it to $30 billion by 2010,'' the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, said while addressing Indian and Chinese business leaders at the India-China Business Cooperation Conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The two countries had also agreed to go in for a joint feasibility study for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement, Wen said.

To attain a quantum jump in economic and business relations between the two countries, Wen favoured removal of trade barriers and strengthening of cooperation in steel, oil, machinery and other basic industries, high tech industries such as space, maritime, IT, new materials technology and facilitation of trade in goods and services.

The Chinese Premier also called for investments in both countries through the setting up of joint ventures and infrastructure development and emphasised the critical need for the two countries to cooperate in multilateral trade fora like the WTO. The two sides have also agreed to work together in energy security and at the multilateral level at the WTO to support an "open, fair, equitable and transparent rule-based multilateral trade system", according to the joint statement signed by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and Wen Jiabao.

The Union Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, said China was poised to become India's largest trade partner in two-three years, next only to the U.S. and Singapore. "From $1 billion annual trade a few years ago, India-China trade is clocking over $1 billion a month to touch $13.6 billion in 2004-05,'' he said.

Nath suggested change in the composition of the export basket in favour of high value items like drugs and pharmaceuticals and services like IT, tourism and banking. Earlier, Wen said India could increase its investment in China in IT, space technology and science and technology. China could invest in biotechnology, computer hardware and telecom hardware.
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Construction of indigenous aircraft carrier begins
New Delhi: India has joined a select group of five nations with the commencement of its construction of a large aircraft carrier. The steel cutting ceremony for the carrier was held at Kochi. The Rs3,200 crore ship, which can carry 30 combat aircraft and helicopters, is designed to provide sea control and power projection capabilities to the Indian Navy.

The 37,500 tonne carrier, unnamed so for, will be ready in 2012.

"So far the biggest ship we have built is the Destroyer. From Destroyer to an aircraft carrier is a long way. The design and construction of such a ship will mark the coming of age of our indigenous warship building capabilities," said Admiral Arun Prakash, Chief of Naval Staff.

"This will be the largest as well as the most complex ship ever to be built in India. This has been a great achievement for our ship builders who have taken on the challenge," he added.

India's only existing aircraft carrier, the INS Viraat, is now over 45 years old and will be decommissioned by the end of the decade. The Navy has been operating carriers for decades, though both the Viraat and the Vikrant, India's first carrier, were bought secondhand from the British. A third carrier, the erstwhile Gorshkov, has been contracted for from the Russians and will be called the INS Vikramaditya.
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ISRO launches new Master Control Facility in MP
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh has become only the second Indian state after Karnataka to have a Master Control Facility, crucial for the monitoring and control of satellites launched by India.

Spread over 45 acres, and made at the cost of nearly Rs40 crore, the two satellites providing information on weather will now be monitored from Bhopal. "This is a unique satellite with a stereoscopic imaging capability, with a 2.5 meter resolution. It's the first of its kind in the world," said Madhvan Nair, ISRO Chairman.

Local scientists are excited with the opening of this centre, and they feel it will be especially useful for getting valuable data on seismic activity.

ISRO is planning to launch more satellites and the Bhopal centre along with the Hassan MCF in Karnataka will play an important role in the INSAT system.
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Baalu: India to set up two new shipyards
Kochi: The Shipping Ministry intends to encourage the setting up of two new international grade shipyards, and the expansion-cum-modernisation of existing shipyards, Union minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, T R Baalu, has said.

Speaking after the 'steel cutting ceremony' of the first indigenous Aircraft Carrier for Indian Navy at the Cochin Shipyard (CSL) here, Baalu, without specifying the location where the new shipyards would come, said one would come up on the east coast and the other on the west.
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ONGC proposes joint exploration venture in Bangladesh
Dhaka: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has proposed joint gas exploration in unexplored blocks in Bangladesh along with the state-run Petrobangla.

Bangladesh was divided into 23 blocks, including seven offshore ones, for hydrocarbon exploration in 1993. ONGC is the latest to show interest in such exploration after China, Thailand and Malaysia, Hossain said.
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World Bank: India needs to improve investment climate
New Delhi: Critical of India's "poor" ranking in terms of investment climate, the World Bank has said that the economy can grow by two per cent more if it improves infrastructure, business regulations, labour and land laws.

According to the World Bank report 'Doing Business', it takes a company 89 days to clear all the procedures and start a business in India as against the South Asian average of 46 days. It takes a company 41 days to start a business in China, 24 days in Pakistan and just two days in Australia.

Cost for setting up a business, measured in terms of percentage of per capita income, is 49.5 in India as against South Asian average of 45.4, Pakistan 36, China 14.5 and nil in Denmark.

Rigidities in labour laws have pulled down India's rank in terms of difficulty in hiring and firing employees. While the index measuring the difficulty of hiring is as high as 33, it is 11 for China and nil for Hong Kong, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, Australia and US.
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