| China, India to create group to promote joint technology development |
BEIJING, Sept 8 (AP) -- India and China plan to set up a Cabinet-level body to pursue joint technology development amid rapid growth in trade between the former Asian adversaries, the Indian science minister said Friday.
Following decades of enmity, New Delhi and Beijing have been trying since 2002 to expand economic ties, hoping to profit by combining China's manufacturing strength and Indian high-tech prowess.
New Delhi also is looking to China as a market for farm exports and a source of investment for infrastructure projects, said Indian Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal.
"From the Indian standpoint, China will be our biggest partner in years to come," said Sibal, who was on a five-day visit to the Chinese capital.
Sibal said he signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Guanhua, to set up a committee to promote joint research. He said a formal agreement is expected to be signed when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits New Delhi in November.
Under the agreement, the two sides will create a "road map" for joint research on high-tech projects and on solutions to common problems facing their vast, poor populations, Sibal said.
"If you were to marry China's hardware with Indian software, we could make goods for the international market that are high in quality and low in cost," he said at a news conference. "This is an ideal relationship that we can nurture for the future."
The nuclear-armed Asian giants have been at odds for decades and fought a 1962 border war. Beijing is a key ally of India's main strategic rival, Pakistan.
But relations have warmed as both governments began focusing on economic development. China's then-Premier Zhu Rongji visited New Delhi in 2002 and promised to make it easier for Indian companies to operate and invest in China. The following year, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the first Indian prime minister to visit China in a decade.
Chinese and Indian officials acknowledge that commercial ties are still limited, despite government prodding.
Trade last year totaled US$18 billion, according to Sibal. That is up from US$5 billion in 2002 but equal to less than one-tenth of China's US$202 billion trade surplus with the United States last year.
Indian software companies are looking at hiring Chinese programmers as labor costs at home rise. Infosys Technologies Ltd., based in India's tech hub of Bangalore, plans to open two development centers in China that will employ 6,000 people.
But many Chinese companies are still studying India to figure out how to invest, said Wang Jinzhen, secretary-general of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
"The most important thing is lack of knowledge," Wang said.
Sibal's visit coincided with a trade show in Beijing by 48 Indian companies, ranging from biotechnology and electronics firms to makers of textiles and machine parts.
The minister said the two governments also hope to collaborate on solving environmental and other problems where he said India and China have unique experience.
Sibal noted that New Delhi has tried to combat smog in the Indian capital by switching to public buses that run on natural gas, a step that Beijing is in the midst of taking.
"We need affordable, accessible solutions for their everyday problems through science and technology," he said. "Western technology is not going to provide those solutions."
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