New Delhi: India may soon be allowed to export rice to China, a top Indian official said following a Wednesday meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the margins of the Rio+20 Summit.
“There were some regulatory issues earlier. Our commerce ministry had been working on it. Now these have been resolved as per the Chinese Premier,” said the official, who was privy to the deliberations between the two leaders. He declined to be named.
The decision, he added, was conveyed when the two leaders discussed the target of boosting bilateral trade between the two leading Asian economies to $100 billion by 2015, during which Singh mentioned the large trade surplus in China's favour.
This was the 13th time the two leaders have met since Manmohan Singh, now in his second term, took over as prime minister for the first time in 2004.
“The Chinese premier agreed India has a large trade deficit with China and in that context he said rice exports from India would be allowed. He also assured Chinese investments in India's infrastructure,” the official said.
India and China enjoyed a bilateral trade of a record $73.9 billion last year. But the trade deficit for India ballooned to $27.07 billion, even as Indian exports grew nearly 13 per cent to $23.4 billion, as per official data.
The two sides, according to Indian officials, also agreed to form an inter-ministerial group in their countries on maritime matters, and to deploy officials to hold formal talks on subjects related to security, trade, navigation and other issues, including piracy.
Last week, an Indian fleet of four ships had visited China on a four-day goodwill mission of the Indian Navy and its long-haul deployment on its eastern seaboard after a gap of some six years.
The four ships - guided missile destroyer INS Rana, stealth frigate INS Shivalik, missile corvette INS Karmukh and fleet tanker INS Shakti - had docked in Shanghai last week and returned to their bases in Vishakapatnam a few days ago.
“There were some regulatory issues earlier. Our commerce ministry had been working on it. Now these have been resolved as per the Chinese Premier,” said the official, who was privy to the deliberations between the two leaders. He declined to be named.
The decision, he added, was conveyed when the two leaders discussed the target of boosting bilateral trade between the two leading Asian economies to $100 billion by 2015, during which Singh mentioned the large trade surplus in China's favour.
This was the 13th time the two leaders have met since Manmohan Singh, now in his second term, took over as prime minister for the first time in 2004.
“The Chinese premier agreed India has a large trade deficit with China and in that context he said rice exports from India would be allowed. He also assured Chinese investments in India's infrastructure,” the official said.
India and China enjoyed a bilateral trade of a record $73.9 billion last year. But the trade deficit for India ballooned to $27.07 billion, even as Indian exports grew nearly 13 per cent to $23.4 billion, as per official data.
The two sides, according to Indian officials, also agreed to form an inter-ministerial group in their countries on maritime matters, and to deploy officials to hold formal talks on subjects related to security, trade, navigation and other issues, including piracy.
Last week, an Indian fleet of four ships had visited China on a four-day goodwill mission of the Indian Navy and its long-haul deployment on its eastern seaboard after a gap of some six years.
The four ships - guided missile destroyer INS Rana, stealth frigate INS Shivalik, missile corvette INS Karmukh and fleet tanker INS Shakti - had docked in Shanghai last week and returned to their bases in Vishakapatnam a few days ago.
