Looks like ‘acche din’ are just around the corner for the Indian economy. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s China trip is proving to be very lucrative for the burdened Indian economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Shanghai today, where he met 22 top Chinese CEOs to pitch his ‘Make in India’ agenda to them. And that 21 business agreements worth $22 billion were signed between Indian and Chinese companies (today itself) is credit to the fact that our PM certainly understands and plays to India’s strengths.
“I have come to say to you Make in India,” the PM told the Chinese industry leaders, and talked about what he called the “5F Formula – From Farm to Fibre to Fabric to Fashion to Foreign.”
He minced no words when he stated: “We want to make things in India for which we launched ‘Make In India’; we want to encourage R&D. Our ideas had a role to play in Chinese innovations, thus we have a lot in common and can do a lot together. India has always been a knowledge society. You have been an innovating society.”
Addressing India-China Business Forum later, the PM said, “You are the factory of the world. We are the back office of the world. Together we can bring about progress and prosperity for both our peoples.”
Foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted a photo of the PM flanked by the top Chinese CEOs, saying: “Trillions of dollars under one roof, PM Modi with the Who’s Who of Chinese industry at CEO’s interaction in Shanghai.”
Among them was Jack Ma of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who told PM Modi, “We are excited about India. We are excited about Make in India and Digital India.” Jack has in the past shown keen interest in the ever rising e-commerce market in India and is keen on penetrating this huge potential market with his company.
Lin Bin, president of phone maker Xiaomi, added: “We have some big plans for India, we fully support Make in India.” Coming from a brand that has already tapped the youth of India into buying their suave and sleek handsets, these are truly some encouraging words for the Indian market.
Trade is a key focus of PM Modi’s three-day visit to China. The trade disparity between the two largest populous nations in the world has figured high on the agenda in discussions between the two high authorities. The trade deficit between India and China increased about 34 per cent to $48.43 billion in 2014-15 from $36.21 billion in the previous fiscal, in China’s favour.
Other business personalities like Harbin Electric, Wanda Group and SANY have also shown their interest in working closely with the domestic companies saying they would love to work with a country that offers a dynamic work force and huge market
Shanghai is the last leg of the Prime Minister Modi’s China visit after which he will leave for Mongolia.