India’s lobbying for trade in IT services with China also stems from the fact that the bilateral trade balance favors the latter. The government expects IT exports could boost revenues and bridge the trade deficit.
Press Trust of India (PTI), quoting an Indian embassy statement in Beijing, reported that the Indian delegation members held at least two round-table meetings and discussed cooperation in IT sector with officials from China's National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. They met representatives of China Software Industry Association and Beijing Association of Sourcing Service.
It was reported earlier that the bilateral trade in 2016 reached $70.08 billion, down from $71.63 billion in 2015, according to data available with China's General Administration of Customs. The trade deficit reached a record $46.56 billion.
China could wedge that gap but the IT delegation’s visit comes a week after India voiced its opposition to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Summit in Beijing and skipped attending it. India has, in particular, opposed the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through the Pakistan side of Kashmir, a territory India claims as its own.
Experts said India needs to adopt a more pragmatic stand towards the OBOR and prepare to hedge its bets amid changes occurring in Washington as these will affect New Delhi and Beijing very differently. China, despite a slowdown in its economy, is an economic power to reckon with and has been investing in India. It has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sources of foreign direct investment into India — it was the 17th largest in 2016, up from the 28th in 2014 and 35th in 2011.
“It is up to India to harness China’s desire for enhanced trade and investment and to give businesses a conducive environment,” Deep K-Datta Ray, Associate Professor, O.P. Jindal World University, had earlier told Sputnik.
