FDI regulations not country-specific; no FTA with China: Nath

New Delhi, Nov 20 (UNI) The National Security Council is planning to set up a mechanism to examine the security implications of foreign investment but the proposed scanner was not country-specific, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said today.

The clarification came ahead of the high-level four-day visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to India beginning today.

The possibility of India entering into a free trade agreement (FTA) with China in the near future was also ruled out by Mr Nath, saying newspersons here that "an FTA with China is not on the cards for now".

Seeking to allay any misconceptions that Chinese investment was not welcome, the minister said, "we welcome Chinese investments in India, we are looking at greater Chinese investments. There are a lot of synergies with the Chinese and we're looking at these." Regarding the proposed regulations to scan security concerns arising from foreign investment, he said, "we have been proposing for some time to bring in the legislation which already exists in other countries including the Western countries. There is nothing wrong in this." But he added that the move was not aimed at any particular country.

Admitting that entering into an FTA with China was "something worth examining", he said the country would for now examine the prospect of "a comprehensive economic agreement." Stating that "investment is a two-way street", Mr Nath said he would be meeting with his Chinese counterpart in this connection during his visit here as part of the high-level delegation accompanying President Hu Jintao.

There were several agreements which would be initialled during the visit of the Chinese delegation, he said but refused to elaborate on the nature of the agreements.

India-China trade has seen a huge growth in recent years from one billion dollars four years ago to 20 billion dollars in recent times.

UNI SD SRS DB2000