Three Indian cities and three of China have been paired under a “sister city” programme that will allow them to connect and learn from each other. The move came on Wednesday in the form of an agreement, which China has been asking for the past several years. In another innovative move, India has offered to let Chinese authorities or companies modernize two Indian railway stations. India is also seeking Chinese involvement in speed and freight management in trains. Under the agreementssigned in the presence of PM Manmohan Singhand Chinese premier Li Keqiang, New Delhi was paired with Beijing. Bangalore and Chengdu, connected through air serviceand a major Wipro investment, were paired. Kolkata and Kunming, connected by air and just two-and-half hours from each other, too became sister cities. India has thus far been reluctant to accept the Chinese request on the “sister city” programme because it involves foreign policy which is in the Central list. The latest move shows New Delhi has agreed to allow regional and city-wise connectivity across borders. “This provides a forum for city officials to learn from each other. Our civic officials can look at how China manages its cities,” Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Planning Commissiondeputy chairman said. More than 52% of the Chinese population lives in cities while the figure is about 30% in India. The two countries signed major commercial and industrial agreements. One of the MoUs allows China to establish a service and maintenance center for power plants sold by it to India. This is important because the Indian private sector uses 60,000 MW-worthof power equipment. On trade imbalance, Ahluwalia said he was not looking at returning to India with an order book for Indian firms. The focus is to create conditions for enhanced collaboration between companies and facilitate trade growth
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 04:29:07 +0000