Beijing, Delhi agree to some give & take.

NEW DELHI: China has committed to facilitating Indian exports into Chinese markets to address the yawning trade imbalance between the two countries. Chinese president Hu Jintao said this to Manmohan Singh in his hour-long meeting with the PM at the end of the BRICS summit on Thursday. This will be Hu's last summit as Chinese president. In return, the PM invited Chinese investment in manufacturing and infrastructure projects in India. Chinese companies are kept out of several strategic sectors, but there is a significant change in the Indian government's approach to Chinese investment.

With the two leaders kicking off a year of friendship celebrations, the overwhelming sense from the meeting was that the two nations are determined to get along, despite many difficulties and differences of outlook. Singh and Hu announced "expanded" foreign office consultations, and launched three new dialogues with China - on West Asia, Central Asia and Africa. India and China pursue markedly different policies in Africa, though with the same stated aims.

Signaling that economics is the driver of the bilateral ties, the chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Zhang Ping held a meeting simultaneously with Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning Commission, to take forward the Strategic Economic Dialogue that has emerged as the most important interaction between the two countries.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com