Wen keeps mum on Pak, open for trade

New Delhi, Dec 17: The Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India has boosted the Indo-China trade relation, but both the countries kept their silence over hot issues like terror in Pakistan soil, border dispute over Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir visa.

Wen Jiaboa has been tightlipped on the controversial issues but focused more on trade relations. Both countries agreed to boost bilateral trade by two-thirds to $100 billion by 2015. Chinese premiere, who came with more than 300 business delegations, aimed for an open Indian market for Chinese products, but India's response to this demand was tepid.

Chinese Premier siad, "necessary to ease restrictions concerning the reveal-and-approval procedure, capital flow and entry and exit of people, thus creating more favourable conditions for mutual investment."

Commerce trade between India and China will touch $60 billion in 2010 which is a 10-fold increase over the trade five years ago. India demanded more market access for its pharmaceuticals, agricultural products and IT services.

"I think our Chinese friends must know and should know that there is a big imbalance in trade between our two countries.... We have very legitimate concerns in this regard. We need more market access in pharmaceuticals, IT where we are brand leaders in the world," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.

OneIndia News