India positive on Pakistan-China economic corridor

The Dollar Business Bureau   India, on Wednesday, expressed its stand on the US$ 46 billion Pakistan-China economic corridor and also stressed on the need to remove misperception in order to ensure cordial relations between India and Pakistan. A statement, in this regard, was made by the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan T C A Raghavan, in his address at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCC) meeting in Peshawar on Wednesday. “India is not worried over the US$ 46 billion Pakistan-China economic corridor, as an economically strong Pakistan will bring in regional stability,” said the Indian envoy in his address at the meeting, say the reports. Highlighting the need to restore mutual relations between India and Pakistan, the Indian envoy also expressed that India is positive about the growing Pakistan-Iran-China and Afghanistan relations. The relation between Pakistan and China stands good and a similar kind of stability is maintained in the case of India and China too, he said, adding that ‘India’s bilateral trade with China and Pakistan was almost same (around US $100 million), in the year 2000.’ However, he raised concerns saying, “The trade volume between India and China has now reached US $65-70 billion mark, but, the same remained around US $2.5-2.9 billion between India and Pakistan.” Referring to a case in trade between China and India, he said the former is getting more benefitted because of the power equipment imports by the latter and opined that the bilateral trade relations will not flourish if the minute trade imbalance was taken into consideration. He further said, “India is focussed on implementing the road map agreed upon with Pakistan in September 2012 for bilateral trade promotion and in this regard, the latter’s move on MFN status grant to India is much awaited.” China and Pakistan, on Monday, launched plans for the implementation of the 3000-km-long economic corridor linking China's far-western Kashgar region to Pakistan's south-western Gwadar Port on the Arabian sea through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). This massive economic corridor, which is expected to shorten the route for energy imports besides also laying scope for various road, rail, energy schemes, pipelines and investment parks, is likely not to take the fund assistance from the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or its Silk Road Fund.    

This article was published on April 23, 2015 – 2:21 pm IST.