India, China likely to boost cooperation in disaster response

After their competition for geo-strategic influence came under focus once again during relief and rescue operations in the quake-hit Nepal, India and China are now set to ink a deal for cooperation in disaster management during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Beijing.

The prime minister will remain non-committal on supporting Beijing’s “Belt” and “Road” initiatives during his visit, which is set to commence from Thursday.

His meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Friday, however, will be followed by signing of several agreements, including one for cooperation in disaster management.

Sources said the pact may pave the way for joint disaster response drill and sharing of best practices.

Modi’s maiden visit to China after taking over as the prime minister will also boost cooperation in trade and economy, culture and academia, science and technology and skill development.
The prime minister will be received by Chinese President Xi Jinping at his hometown Xian in northwest China on Thursday.

This will be in reciprocation to the gesture Modi had made by receiving XI in Ahmedabad when the Chinese president visited India in September 2014.

India and China will also institutionalise “sub-national cooperation”, with a forum being set up for chief ministers and mayors of states and cities of India to interact with their counterparts in the provinces of the communist country. Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Maharashtra, Anandiben Patel and Devendra Fadnavis, respectively, will take part in the inaugural meeting of the forum in Beijing on Friday, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said.

Modi’s visit will conclude at Shanghai, where he would address CEOs of Indian and Chinese companies. 

Though boundary dispute would come up for discussion, no significant forward movement is expected and the focus would remain on maintaining peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control, which serves as the de facto border between China and India.