Krishna to press China to buy rice, mangoes.

BEIJING: India and China are celebrating the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year. But it will be a long time before ordinary Chinese get a taste of Indian trademark products like mangoes and Basmati rice.

Foreign minister S M Krishna is expected to push Chinese officials to come up with a clear schedule of proposed actions that would clear the way of Indian exports on several items of food products in order to reduce the huge trade deficit, which was $12 billion last year. "We want them to tell us how much time they will need to complete the quarantine and other procedures. At present, we have no idea how long it will take and we cannot plan our exports," an Indian government official told TOI.

A lot of work has been done in the case of Basmati rice with teams of Chinese quarantine officials visiting India to check pesticide content in rice and examine the processing and packaging facilities. But a final approval is awaited. Some work has progressed on the mango front as India provides higher quality mangoes compared to other Chinese sources like Philippines. "Efforts to address phytosanitary obstacles for the export of fruits and vegetables from India have made very slow progress. This only enhances negative perceptions about China. It is in our mutual interest to ensure quick breakthroughs," Nagraj Naidu, an official at Indian embassy in Beijing said at the China-India Development Forum organized by state-run China.org.cn.

China buys massive quantities of grains, fruits and vegetables from Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines but it has been ignoring India's pleas to purchase similar set of products from India for five years.

Source : TOI