India could benefit from Chinese investment, business visits

India can benefit if it welcomes investment from China and issues more visas to Chinese visitors, analysts said as optimism rose that the two countries will resolve outstanding issues soon and establish good-neighborly relations.

China is the largest manufacturing hub in the world and India needs to promote its manufacturing in its economy. There is a great scope for joint venture between China and India in renewable energy, semiconductors, heavy engineering and also in digital technologies, said Sudheendra Kulkarni, who served as an aide to former India prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and who founded the Forum for a New South Asia, which promotes cooperation between India, Pakistan, and China.

"Therefore, India should ease restrictions on Chinese investment and business, which will be win-win for both India and China," Kulkarni said.

Curbs by the Indian authorities since a border stand-off in 2020 have disrupted billions of dollars of investment from China and halted expected investment projects, including Chinese automakers BYD and Great Wall Motor, and Chinese smartphone makers Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi.

General Manoj Pande, chief of India's army staff, said on Jan 29 that India and China had a total of 20 meetings at senior higher military commander level, and 14 gatherings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs have taken place since April 2020.

"Situation along the Line of Actual Control remains stable but is sensitive," Pande said in an interview with the news agency ANI. "In the last one year or thereabout, we haven't had any more friction areas in this."

With the means, "we're hopeful that we'll find a resolution", he added.

Spokespersons for China's Foreign Ministry have repeatedly stressed that the two giant neighbors have many reasons to develop traditional friendship and the settlement of the border situation should not affect normal development of bilateral relations.

In March 2023, India's federal finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, told the Indian Parliament that the Indian government had received more than 50 foreign direct investment proposals from China that were pending approval as of March 21, 2023.

"Dialogue is always helpful, which can fully stabilize the situation. Both sides should continue the dialogues at various levels, that is the only way to bring back normalcy," said former chief of the Indian army Shankar Roy Chowdhury.

More dialogue and negotiations at military and diplomatic levels will defeat the mutual distrust and lead to peace in the border areas, said Haans Freddy, a professor in the Department of Political Science at Madras Christian College in Chennai, India.

If there is a relaxation on Chinese investment, then one of the major outcomes will be that India's manufacturing sector will expand resulting in India's imports decreasing, said Santosh Pai, an honorary fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies.

The second important thing is that, if there is less restriction on Chinese investment, global supply chains will feel more comfortable investing in India, because Chinese companies are part of many global supply chains. These are the two obvious benefits for India, Pai pointed out, while adding that India cannot lift restrictions that compromise its national interest.

In addition to more dialogue at the diplomatic and military levels, experts believe people-to-people exchanges, and regular interactions at various levels between the two countries can also help improve bilateral relations.

In order to enhance people-to-people exchanges, India must start issuing visas to more Chinese nationals, Acharya suggested.

Posting on X, Wang Xiaojian, a spokesperson for China's embassy in India, said on Jan 19: "More than 180,000 Chinese visas have been issued to Indian citizens in 2023! In the past year, Chinese embassy and consulates-general in India have taken a package of measures to better facilitate Indian citizens traveling to China, such as online appointment removed, fingerprints exemption and temporary fee reduction."

The spokesperson added that it is "sincerely hoped that the India side would resume normal visa channels for Chinese citizens traveling to India ASAP to jointly promote mutual people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and India".

Kulkarni said: "India should issue more visas to Chinese citizens, especially Chinese businesspeople who wish to visit India." He added that he was confident the two countries will overcome challenges and establish good relations sooner, rather than later.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.