China and India try to set differences over Kashmir aside to focus on economic cooperation
- Both countries use latest strategic economic dialogue in New Delhi to focus on areas such as drug development and technology
China and India have pledged to step up their cooperation in areas such as the economy, technology and drug development despite ongoing tensions over issues such as Kashmir.
The two countries concluded the sixth India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue held in New Delhi on Monday, saying it had “strengthened communication and the exchange of views”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The dialogue came about a month before a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to India for an informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Under the dialogue established in 2010 to address economic and commercial issues, there are six joint working groups covering infrastructure, energy, technology, resource conservation, pharmaceuticals and policy coordination.
“Both sides agreed on cooperation in research and development for developing new technology for manufacturing solar cells … [and to] explore cooperation for promoting Indian generic drugs and Chinese APIs [active pharmaceutical ingredients],” the National Institution for Transforming India, a state-backed think tank, said.