Tag: Xi Jinping

Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping meet, take stock of developments post Wuhan

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Saturday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit here and signed deals on Beijing sharing Brahmaputra river data with New Delhi and India’s export of rice to China.

The two leaders took stock of the developments of Sino-Indian relations after their ice-breaking summit at the Chinese central city of Wuhan in late April.

Xi and Modi had agreed to maintain peace along their 3,448-km-long disputed border over which the two countries went to war in 1962.

“Further strengthening the positive momentum in the bilateral relationship generated at the Wuhan informal summit, PM Narendra Modi had a warm and forward-looking meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO Summit,” India’s External Affairs Ministry’s spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

“Memorandum of understanding was signed between Ministry of Water Resources, the People’s Republic of China, and Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, the Republic of India, upon provision of hydrological information of the Brahmaputra river in flood season,” the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The agreement enables the Chinese side to provide hydrological data in flood season from May 15 to October 15 every year. The article also enables the Chinese side to provide hydrological data if water level exceeds mutually agreed level during the non-flood season.”

China had withheld the river data of Brahmaputra to India last year after Indian and Chinese military faced off at Doklam over a road being built by Beijing in the area.

“The 2006 Protocol on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China has been amended to include the non-Basmati rice,” the statement said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Qingdao to attend SCO summit

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Qingdao, China, on Saturday, on a two-day visit primarily to attend the annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which is likely to deliberate on several pressing global issues including future of Iran nuclear deal, the impact of US sanctions on Russia and situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

It is Modi’s second visit to China in little over five weeks. He was in the Chinese city of Wuhan on April 27 and 28 to attend an informal summit with President Xi Jinping.

Diplomats said the summit is also likely to explore ways to deepen cooperation among the SCO member countries in dealing with threats of terrorism, extremism, and radicalisation besides delving into issues relating to trade, investment, and connectivity.

It is for the first time the Indian prime minister will be attending the SCO summit after India along with Pakistan became a full-fledged members of the grouping, jointly dominated by China and Russia, which has been increasingly seen as a counter to NATO.

The SCO currently has eight member countries which represents around 42 percent of the world’s population and 20 percent of the global GDP.

Besides Modi, other leaders attending the summit in this picturesque coastal city of China’s Shandong province include President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain.

In his address at the SCO Modi, is likely to articulate India’s position on dealing with major challenges facing the world including ways to tackle terrorism, and boosting trade and investment in the region.

The summit in this Chinese port city is taking place under the shadow of Washington’s pull out from the Iran nuclear deal, its sanction regime against Russia and frictions with China over the trade tariff dispute and diplomats said all these issues may figure at the summit as well as during deliberations on its sidelines.

In the wake of Washington’s strained ties with Russia, China and Iran, officials said the SCO summit will provide an opportunity for President Xi and his Russian counterpart Putin to reflect on a common vision for the region and present the bloc as a powerful voice to deal with pressing global issues.

The situation in the Indo-Pacific may figure in the talks but it is unlikely that the issue will find a mention in the SCO outcome document.

Officials said the US pull out from the Iran nuclear deal, Washington’s sanctions against Russia under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) may also figure in the talks. The sanctions have impacted Russia’s defence cooperation with a number of countries including India.

The SCO leaders are also expected to review the situation in the Korean peninsula, Afghanistan and Syria.

Officials said India will pitch for evolving effective ways to deal with the growing challenge of terrorism and enhancing security cooperation among SCO countries.

India is also keen on deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

India was an observer at the SCO since 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.

The officials said India is also likely to focus on importance of regional connectivity projects to boost trade among members of the SCO countries.

India has been strongly pushing for connectivity projects like the Chabahar port project and International North-South Transport Corridor to gain access to resource-rich central Asian countries.

Modi is expected to hold nearly half a dozen bilateral meetings with leaders of other SCO countries. However, there is no official word on whether there will be any interaction between Modi and Pakistan President Hussain, who is scheduled to attend the meeting in China.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its members last year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US, EU can still talk trade after tariffs, says US envoy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The United States and the European Union could still negotiate a trade deal even if Washington imposed import tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday.

EU leaders agreed earlier in May to open discussions about market access for US products, but only if Washington grants the EU a permanent exemption from tariffs. The EU now has a temporary exemption, which expires on Friday.

“There can be negotiations with or without tariffs in place. There are plenty of tariffs the EU has on us. It’s not that we can’t talk just because there’s tariffs,” Ross told a panel at the OECD.

He did not say whether the United States would impose tariffs on EU metals. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Tuesday she expected some sort of US measure to limit EU exports.

Ross, who was due to talk to Malmstrom later on Wednesday, said the EU had shown limited interest in serious trade negotiations with the United States until the threat of tariffs.

The 28-member bloc shelved talks towards an ambitious EU-US trade deal known as TTIP after Donald Trump’s presidential election victory in 2016.

Dutch Trade Minister Sigrid Kaag, on the same panel, said it was important that both sides remain in dialogue.

The US Commerce Secretary also denied claims that tariffs would harm US steel-consuming industries. The price of a can of soup would rise just a fraction of a cent and car prices would go up by less than 1%, he said.

“The sky has not fallen in the United States since we put the tariffs on. It hasn’t fallen and it won’t,” he said, adding that about 20 steel or aluminium facilities had opened or re-opened since the tariffs were first announced.

Ross also took aim at the World Trade Organization, where Washington has blocked appointments to its appeals chamber, effectively engineering a crisis in the system of settling global disputes.

Any dispute mechanism that took multiple years was “no good”, labelling the 14-year case over subsidies for aircraft Airbus “a joke”.

Talk of just tweaking the WTO, as EU countries had suggested, was wrong, he said.

“The problem is that people have begun in many multilateral organisations to substitute conversation for action. We don’t think just raising issues is adequate,” he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump announces new tariffs on Chinese technology

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The US is announcing that it will impose a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods containing “industrially significant technology.”

The White House said Tuesday that the tariff will cover goods related to the “Made in China 2025” program. The full list of imports that will be covered will be announced by June 15.

Trump has bemoaned the massive US trade deficit with China — $337 billion last year — as evidence that Beijing has been complicit in abusive trading practices.

The White House also says the US is planning new investment restrictions and export controls.

The announcement comes as the administration negotiates with China on a broad trade dispute. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to travel to China later in the week for more talks.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US to continue trade actions against China, says White House

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The United States said on Tuesday that it will continue pursuing action on trade with China, days after Washington and Beijing announced a tentative solution to their dispute and suggested that tensions had cooled.

By June 15, Washington will release a list of some $50 billion worth of Chinese goods that will be subject to a 25% tariff, the White House said in a statement. The United States will also continue to pursue litigation against China at the World Trade Organization.

In addition, by the end of June, the United States will announce investment restrictions and “enhanced export controls” for Chinese individuals and entities “related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology,” it said.

In mid-May, China agreed to increase purchases of US agriculture and energy products, and last week, the US Commerce Department told lawmakers it had reached a deal to put Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp back in business.

While the announcements eased worries about the possibility of a trade war between world’s two largest economies, US President Donald Trump also said last week that any deal between Washington and Beijing would need “a different structure,” fueling uncertainty over the talks.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on up to $150 billion of Chinese goods to combat what he has labeled unfair trade practices on the part of Beijing. Meanwhile, China has warned of equal retaliation, including duties on some of its most significant US imports, like aircraft, soybeans and vehicles.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump says China to buy more US farm products, offers no details

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

US President Donald Trump on Monday said China had pledged to buy “massive amounts” of American agricultural products but gave no other details about planned commitments from Beijing following US-China trade talks last week.

“Fair Trade, plus, with China will happen!” Trump wrote in a series of posts on Twitter that came a day after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a trade war between the world’s largest economies was “on hold.”

“China has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products – would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years!” Trump wrote. “On China, Barriers and Tariffs to come down for first time,” he added.

Trump offered no specifics about what steps US and Chinese officials had agreed to after talks on Thursday and Friday in Washington. The negotiations followed earlier meetings in Beijing aimed at diffusing the trade spat spurred by the Trump administration’s threat to slap tariffs on Chinese goods, and a counterproposal by China to levy US products.

Over the weekend, Beijing and Washington pledged to keep talking about how China could import more energy and agricultural commodities from the United States to narrow the $335 billion annual US goods and services trade deficit with China.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump praises China’s Xi as trade talks begin in Beijing

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday praised his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as officials from the world’s two largest economies began trade talks in Beijing, while state media said China would stand up to US bullying.

A breakthrough deal to fundamentally change China’s economic policies is viewed as highly unlikely during the two days of talks, though a package of short-term Chinese measures could delay Washington’s decision to impose tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese exports.

The discussions, led by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, are expected to cover a wide range of US complaints about China’s trade practices, from accusations of forced technology transfers to state subsidies for technology development.

“Thrilled to be here. Thank you,” Mnuchin told Reuters at his hotel when asked if he expected progress. He made no other comments.

As Mnuchin arrived, Trump tweeted: “Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade! I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. We will always have a good (great) relationship!”

It was not clear when Trump and Xi might meet again next, though both will likely attend some of the same multilateral summits this year, including those of the G20 and APEC.

Throughout his 2016 election campaign, Trump routinely threatened to impose a 45 percent across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods as a way to level the playing field for American workers. At the time, he was also accusing China of manipulating its currency to gain an export advantage, a claim that his administration has since dropped.

The US Embassy in Beijing said the US delegation planned to meet Chinese officials on both days, in addition to US Ambassador Terry Branstad, before leaving on Friday evening.

The delegation returned to their hotel late on Thursday evening without taking questions from reporters, though, when asked how the talks were going, one unidentified US official said “Well.”

In Washington, the US-China Business Council, which represents American companies doing business in China, said it was pleased the two governments were talking and urged a deal to end forced technology transfers and improve China’s intellectual property protections.

“USCBC believes it is unlikely that the issues will be fully resolved in this meeting, but we hope the two sides will be able to lay out a path for continued negotiations that will lead to a solution and avoid tariffs and other commerce-slowing sanctions,” the group said in a statement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing in Beijing: “The outcome should be mutually beneficial and win-win.”

In a commentary widely cited in Chinese media on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency said if things went poorly and a trade war did break out, China would never yield and would hit back strongly.

“China will inevitably suffer losses, but China has the political advantage of a centralised and unified leadership and support of a massive domestic market,” it said.

The official China Daily said in an editorial that China would “stand up to the US’ bullying as necessary.”

“The US wants greater access to China’s market, but it should not use trade actions as a battering ram to force China to open its doors. It is already in the process of opening them wider,” the English-language newspaper said.

In doing so, China expected Washington to reciprocate and open its market to Chinese investment and competition, it said.

US Tariffs Ready in June

The first round of threatened tariffs under the US government’s “Section 301” intellectual property probe focused heavily on technology products benefiting from a “Made in China 2025” programme to upgrade China’s domestic manufacturing base with more advanced products.

The US tariffs could go into effect in June following the completion of a 60-day consultation period.

US-based trade experts said they expected Beijing to offer Trump’s team a package of policy changes that may include some previously announced moves, such as a phase-out of joint venture requirements for some sectors, auto tariff reductions and increased purchases of US goods.

Trump has demanded a $100 billion annual reduction in the $375 billion US goods trade deficit with China.

But members of the diverse US trade delegation, which includes US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, both of whom have been critical of China, are likely to have differing views on the merits of such an offer.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Parliamentary panel to visit border areas in Sikkim, Arunachal

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will visit areas in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh bordering China next month to look at the situation amid concerns that China had ramped up its military infrastructure in the Doklam region.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is a member of the panel, would be among those visiting the two states, sources said. The panel is headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

The visit, expected to take place in the last week of May, will come weeks after informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during which the two leaders decided to provide “strategic guidance” to their respective armies to strengthen communications and prevent another Doklam-like military stand-off along their long-winding disputed border.

Sources said the team would visit areas near the Indo-China border in the two states.

The panel has earlier discussed the 73-day military standoff with China at Doklam that ended in August last year after the two countries agreed to an “expeditious disengagement”. The stand off occurred after Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army.

Congress has been attacking the government and saying that it is not capable of sending a strong message to China.

The party has said that a “full-fledged Chinese Military Complex” has come up in Doklam right up to 10m from Indian Army post and has also referred to China building a new road through south of Doklam.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India, China to step up policy coordination

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

India and China will enhance policy coordination in their cooperation with neighbouring countries following the just-concluded informal summit here between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, a top Chinese official has said.

Modi and Xi concluded their first ever two-day India-China informal summit yesterday raising hopes of improving relations in light of last year’s tensions on a host of issues including the Doklam military standoff.

The two sides will enhance policy coordination in their neighbourhood to discuss cooperation in the form of China India plus one or China India plus X , Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said briefing newsmen here yesterday about the summit outcome.

Kong did not elaborate but his comments come in the backdrop of India’s concerns over increasing presence of Chinese investments in India’s neighbourhood specially infrastructure projects like ports.

China has been stepping up its investments in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives besides Pakistan where it is investing heavily in the USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

India has protested to China over the CPEC as it traverses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

India did not endorse the Belt and Road Initiative at the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Beijing on April 24 which External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also attended.

“The foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan reiterated their support for the BRI proposed by China,” said a statement issued by the SCO foreign ministers at the end of their one-day meeting.

India’s name was conspicuously absent from the list of countries that endorsed BRI of which CPEC is a part.

Significantly, Kong has played down India-China differences on the BRI stating that Beijing will not be too hard on it (BRI) as we feel that there is no fundamental difference between China and India on the issue of supporting interconnectivity,” he said.

He referred to India’s participation in the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor which is also part of the BRI.

When it comes to connectivity our impression is that China and India do not have principle disagreement. Actually the two countries are working on the BCIM which is an important part of BRI and for the BCIM corridor, India does not oppose it. Actually, it is an important partner in this cooperation. At the same time BCIM is progressing very smoothly,” he said.

Kong also referred to India’s participation in the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India is the second largest shareholder after China.

Kong said the two countries indeed are expanding their cooperation on connectivity.

After the summit, the two countries have agreed to develop a project jointly in war-torn Afghanistan, officials sources said after the summit.

This could send a strong signal of their cooperation in the neighbourhood.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Narendra Modi leaves for India after informal summit with Xi Jinping in China

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for India after holding the two-day informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the central Chinese city, Wuhan.

Modi had arrived in China on Thursday for the unprecedented informal summit with Xi.

The prime minister held one-on-one talks with Xi which is being seen as an effort by India and China to rebuild trust and improve ties that were hit by the 73-day-long Dokalam standoff last year.

The two leaders exchanged views on “solidifying” the India-China relationship and decided to issue strategic guidance to their respective militaries to strengthen communications and to build trust and understanding.

They recognised terrorism as common threat and committed to cooperate further on counter terrorism.

Modi also offered to host the next informal summit with Xi in India next year, a proposal which elicited a positive response from the Chinese president.

The two leaders began their informal meetings way back in 2014 when Xi was hosted by Modi at the Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat. They have met and interacted with each other in about a dozen international meetings since then.

This is the fourth visit of Modi to China after he came to power in 2014. He is again due to visit China to take part in the SCO summit to be held at Qingdao city on June 9-10.

Modi was seen off by Chinese Vice Foreign Minster, Kong Xuanyou and Chinese Ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui and other officials.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow