Sino-Indian co-op boost on cards

• India is Li's first destination after which he heads for Pak
• During his meeting with Manmohan Singh, both sides are likely to take up border disputes and trade imbalance
• Li will address a gathering of university students in Delhi
• He will address the Indian industry and visit TCS campus

New Delhi: Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang arrives in India today on a four-day visit during which "a new type of strategic cooperative partnership to the benefit of both sides" is expected to be forged. Besides holding talks with President and Prime Minister, Li's itinerary is packed with interactive events with government leaders, industry and students. According to official Chinese news agency Xinhua, his maiden foreign visit as premier will help further remove suspicion and consolidate mutual trust between the two countries. The focus of India-China talks will be trade and boosting economic ties.

Bilateral trade grew from $2.9 billion in 2000 to $ 61.7 billion in 2010, a 20-fold increase in 10 years. In 2012, the volume reached $66.5 billion, according to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. China has now become India's second largest trade partner, and India is China's largest trade partner in South Asia. "At such a growth rate, the two sides are expected to hit the designated target of $100 billion," Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Jiang Yaoping said on Thursday at a press briefing in Beijing, referring to the 2015 goal. However, compared with the population and economic scale of the two countries, bilateral trade still has much potential to grow, said Jiang Jingkui, director of the Department of South Asian Languages at Peking University. "They could strengthen cooperation in infrastructure construction in India and in medicine and IT products in China," he added. However, the recent border incursions in the Ladakh region have cast a shadow on Li's visit. Another friction between the two sides is the rising Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean. But both Indian and Chinese officials have downplayed their differences and contentious issues on the eve of Li's visit. As a first step to remove border irritants, Indian and Chinese army officers will discuss border management and confidence building measures at Nathu La in Sikkim on Wednesday. Indian Army officers will go across to the Chinese side for the talks. This will be followed by another round of talks on September 15 when Chinese officers will come to India. Nathu La is one of three border posts open for trade. The meeting is held every year at the Nathu La border post between the two sides on May 15 and September 15 where Brigadier-level officers meet. On May 15, the Indian troops cross over to the other side while on September 15 Chinese troops come to Indian side.