China-India border dispute: Will the pullback of troops revive economic cooperation?

Name: China reveals details of 2020 border clash with Indian troops after both sides complete pullback
Uploaded: 2021-02-24T02:15:55.000Z
Duration: 2 min 7 s
Description: China reveals details of 2020 border clash with Indian troops after both sides complete pullback

With tensions easing in the Himalayas, will investment proposals from China gain New Delhi’s approval?

India still depends heavily on Chinese goods and funds but its efforts to be self-reliant mean trade and investment links may never be the same

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Indian students in Chennai wearing masks of President Xi Jinping of China as others wave national flags of India and China, ahead of Xi’s informal summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2019. Photo: Reuters

Kunal Purohit

Published: 10:15am, 24 Feb 2021Updated: 11:21am, 24 Feb 2021

Are economic ties between India and China finally on the upswing?

Over the past nine months, the two countries amassed tens of thousands of troops, tanks and missiles in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, with the stand-off leading to an economic freeze.

During that time, India announced that one of its core missions would be to make itself self-reliant as it sought to block Chinese investments in key industries like power and infrastructure and also banned 267 Chinese mobile applications.

But now that troops in the region have disengaged after a tenth round of border talks between the two countries, the question is whether they can also patch up their economic differences.

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China reveals details of 2020 border clash with Indian troops after both sides complete pullback

Fresh evidence seems to suggest so. The Indian government is reportedly considering granting approval to at least 45 of a total of 150 investment proposals worth US$2 billion made by Chinese companies, according to a Reuters report on Monday. A day later, the government clarified that it had not yet granted approvals to any Chinese investments but did not deny that it was considering doing so.