Indian officials said on Sunday that they will participate in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) to reduce India's USD 51 billion trade deficit with its neighboring nations. China's first international expo will be inaugurated on Monday by President Xi Jinping.
The expo is a six-day event and leaders of 18 countries including Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan are expected to join the event. The expo main objective is to showcase the country's import potential. According to the officials, an Indian delegation led by Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan was sent to China to take part in the event.
Prashant Lokhande, Counsellor Economic and Commerce of the Indian Embassy, said that India has built a pavilion at the expo that highlights the country's focus on areas of agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and tourism.
The expo is known as the biggest event organized by China that aims in showcasing its opportunities. The Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and other concerned government agencies has built the country's pavilion at the expo.
According to China's official media, over a USD trillion dollars' worth of imports is expected in the expo. The expo will continue as planned amidst the continuing trade tensions between the United States and China. The US has been implementing tariffs on Chinese goods and it was estimated that it has already reached around USD 250 billion. The western giant demands that China should bring down the country's trade deficit amounting to USD 375 billion. China responded with its own set of tariffs on US products.
According to reports, India is also demanding that China should consider bringing down India's Annual trade deficit of over USD 51 billion. It is one of the main focus areas to be discussed during an informal meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's President Xi Jinping at Wuhan scheduled last April this year.
Since the meeting between the two leaders, officials of the two countries started several discussions that will secure India to export the agricultural products that include sugar and rice as well as pharmaceuticals and IT. India is known to have an upper hand in the global exports.
Anil Kumar Rai, the consul general of India's Consulate in Shanghai said that the expo will give China an opportunity to market its leading products. The expo will end on November 10 and it attracted a great number of participants in the global industry. It is expected that around 82 countries and three international organizations will showcase their products at the country pavilions that covers an area of about 30,000 square meters.
