It is a great honor for me to be invited by the esteemed Calcutta Chamber of Commerce for this Talk and Interactive Session. We know that the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, originally formed as the Calcutta Trades Association in 1830, is the oldest chamber of commerce in India and it has made great contributions to the modernization of India and particularly the city of Kolkata. We are very grateful to the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce for organizing this Session and for its efforts to promote understanding between our two peoples in general and the Sino-Indian economic relations in particular.

One month ago when I received the suggestion by the President of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Patodia, to talk about India-China Bilateral Relations, I accepted the invitation readily. Recently there have been many reports and articles on China-India relations in the Indian press. As a student and policy analyst of Sino-Indian relations for the past 15 years, I think I may perhaps be qualified to say a few words on this topic.

The Sino-Indian relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations of China and we have been nurturing and cherishing it very carefully. We know that there are still some uneasy problems between our two countries which will take time to be resolved. And we also know that as two immediate neighbors, two most populous nations, and two rising powers, China and India have only one choice for the future, that is to be friends and partners in mutual progress. Therefore, "look forward" has been our basic attitude and we have tried our best to ensure that the pending issues will not get in the way of developing the overall relations. There has been a consensus in this regard between the leadership of our two countries and, thus, great progress has been made in our bilateral relations in the last ten years.

Now I would like to say that, according to my personal observation, the past decade has been the best period in the modern history of Sino-Indian relations.

I have ten points to support my argument.

One, both China and India have officially stated that they do not regard the other as a security threat.

According to a report by a well-known Indian commentator, Mr. Raja Mohan, on June 15, 1999 from Beijing, the then visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Mr. Jaswant Singh categorically stated that India did not regard China as a security threat. Subsequently the Indian Government has reiterated the same many times. Addressing an international conference organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis in January 2003, Mr. George Fernandes, the then Indian Minister for Defence, said "We (India and China) will not be a 'threat' to each other and this has been reiterated at the highest political levels." And during his China visit in March the same year, Mr. Fernandes told PTI in an exclusive interview that "I found that there is tremendous love for India (in China)".

My understanding is that the basic consensus that both China and India do not consider each other as a security threat has paved the way for the following ten years' development of bilateral relations.

Two, China began providing hydrological information to India on Brahmaputra River.

An important agreement to this effect was reached in January 2002 when the then Chinese Premier Mr. Zhu Rongji visited India. According to a spokesman of the Indian foreign office, this important measure would meet the demand of flood control and disaster mitigation downstream of Brahmaputra River and China agreed to provide information on water level discharge, rainfall data and water levels, not only during the monsoon but also during the rest of the year.

Three, direct flights between China and India (including Kolkata) have taken off.

On March 28, 2002, China Eastern Airlines opened the first-ever direct flight of passenger transport between China and India. Now, within a space of six years, there are 44 direct flights every week between China and India, operated by five Chinese and Indian airlines. Ten years ago, there was only one direct route between China and India which was offered by Ethiopian Airlines. As you would have observed, at that time, "People-to-people exchange" was only a goodwill concept, but now it is an everyday reality. Last year five lakh Indians visited China and fifty thousand Chinese visited India.

Four, China recognized Sikkim as a part of India.

During the important visit to China in 2003 by the then Indian Prime Minister Mr. Altal Behari Vajpayee, the governments of China and India signed a Memorandum on expanding border trade. In that document the Chinese side recognized that Sikkim is a State of the Indian Union.

Five, a new mechanism of Special Representatives for boundary settlement was established.

Also during Mr. Vajpayee's China visit, the two sides agreed to appoint Special Representatives to explore the framework of settlement of the India-China boundary question. The Special Representatives of the two governments have been engaged in consultations in a friendly, cooperative and constructive atmosphere and important progress has been made. In April 2005, when the Chinese Premier Mr. Wen Jiabao visited India, the two sides reached an Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the China-India Boundary Question.

Six, first-ever joint military exercise was conducted.

In November 2003, the Sino-Indian joint naval exercise off the Shanghai coast marked a historic jump in defence relations between the two countries. Subsequently, at the end of last year, the two armies of China and India conducted their first-ever joint anti-terrorism military training exercise termed "Hand-in-Hand 2007" in Yunnan Province, Southwestern China.

Seven, Sino-Indian Strategic and Cooperative Partnership has been established.

All the developments mentioned above led to a historical moment: when the Chinese Premier Mr. Wen Jiabao visited India in April 2005, the leaders of the two countries agreed to establish a China-India Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.

Eight, border trade through Nathu La Pass was resumed.

The reopening ceremony was held on July 6, 2006. The Himalayan pass had been a major trade point along the ancient Silk Road for centuries. In the early 20th century, the trade volume through Nathu La Pass accounted for 80 percent of the total trade between the two countries. Now traders from both the sides sincerely hope that border trade through Nathu La Pass would be further expanded.

Nine, new Consulates General have been set up in Guangzhou, South China and Kolkata, in eastern India.

This latest development was planned when the Chinese President Mr. Hu Jintao visited India in November 2006. Just two weeks ago, the Indian Minister for External Affairs Mr. Pranab Mukherjee officially inaugurated the new Indian consular office in Guangzhou. In his inauguration speech Mr. Mukherjee stated "we are convinced that Guangzhou is the best choice for the opening of our second Consulate General in China". Simultaneously, our office in Kolkata is now fully operational and we have been issuing visas since the beginning of last month.

Ten, China has become India's largest trading partner.

This was publicly announced by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee recently in Guangzhou. As we speak of Sino-Indian relations in the last decade, you may well ask, what was the situation of China-India trade ten years ago? The answer is, in India's fiscal year 1998-1999, China could hardly be called India's trading partner as it was placed at number 18 in the country-wise list of India's foreign trade that year. The absolute figure of bilateral trade in the calendar year 1998 was only $1.9 billion. Now, within a span of ten years, the amount of bilateral trade has reached $18.8 billion in a mere four months of the current year according to the latest statistics. On this basis, we can expect that the figure for the whole year may be over $56 billion. This is a 30-fold increase in just ten years. Should we not call this a great story of success!

Ladies and gentlemen, business people from both China and India, you are a big part of this success story. I salute all of you for your historical achievement.

Two weeks ago, in an Interactive Session organized by the esteemed Indian Chamber of Commerce, I said that I do appreciate the newly coined English word CHINDIA, which means, to my mind, a joint rise of China and India. I believe that the process of rising will be a joint one, with joint efforts by our two peoples, rather than as two separate developments. I also said that it is not wishful thinking, but a conclusion based on a fundamental fact that the economic strengths of our two countries are very much complementary.

Now I would like to say a few words further on CHINDIA. We have a saying in China that "we are in you and you are in us", which means the two have mixed together. I see the Sino-Indian economic relations progressing this way. Recently my colleagues in our office did two pieces of research, one was on Indian Companies in China and the other was on Chinese Companies in India.

First, let's look at the Indian companies doing business in China. Do you know how many Indian companies have now set up their sub companies, joint ventures, factories or representative offices in China? The website of the Indian Embassy in Beijing lists 154 Indian companies as having such establishments across China. The website of the Indian Consulate General in Shanghai shows a similar kind of list with 83 Indian companies having a base in eastern China. But I believe that the real number must be much higher. According to the latest figure given by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the number of Indian non-financial projects with direct investment in China is 354, with total contract amount of $716 million as of March 2008.

I am afraid my knowledge of economics is quite limited and I need a simplified way to understand this picture. By searching the internet with different criteria, I have found a few lists of Top Ten Companies in India.

In one such List of India's Top Ten Software Companies, six out of the ten have their base in China. These are: TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, MphasiS and NIIT.

In the List of India's Top Ten Pharmaceutical companies, five out of the ten have their factories or laboratories in China. These are: Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Aurobindo, Lupin Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical.

In a List of India's Ten Richest Companies, five out of the ten have their factories or offices in China. These are: Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Steel Authority of India and Tata Steel.

And in the List of India's Ten Most Respected Companies, seven out of the ten have their branches in China. These are: Reliance, Infosys, Wipro, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ranbaxy, Jet Airways and ICICI Bank.

Now the picture is much clearer and I can safely say that "you are really in us".

Why are so many Indian companies keen to do business with and in China? The reasons might be simple: a large domestic market, developed supply and demand chains, good infrastructure, low cost of capital, friendly business environment and easier industrial relations.

Now let's look at the other picture: Chinese Companies in India. Generally speaking, the presence of Chinese companies in India is visibly less than their Indian counterparts in China. Again, according to the figures given by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, there are about 60 Chinese companies which have their branches now in India and actual Chinese investment in India as registered with the Ministry is around $50 million.

However, in the sector of infrastructure, which is a booming market in India, Chinese companies are quite active, playing a growing and big role. In 2006, Chinese companies were awarded contracts worth $3.23 billion and India was the largest single overseas market that year for Chinese companies undertaking contract projects. Last year, Chinese companies won contracts worth $4.56 billion through competitive bidding, a 40% increase from the previous year. Many of these new contracts are in the power sector. These new projects, when completed, will provide a total generating capacity of around 10,000 MW of electricity. In the sectors of telecommunication and highways, Chinese companies were awarded several large contracts in 2007, valued at $1.5 billion and $230 million respectively.

Now may I say that, at least in the infrastructure sector, "we are becoming in you" also?

I think the two pictures I am presenting to you today show a very positive and win-win situation of the Sino-Indian economic cooperation. You are strong in knowledge industries, so you open your offices in China. We are strong in infrastructure, so we win contracts in India. Considering the huge size of the two economies and the mutually complementary economic strengths of our two countries, I believe that the future of Sino-Indian economic cooperation is bound to be bright and shining. I am sure that the Indian and Chinese business communities believe the same and will not miss any business opportunities in each other's markets. Furthermore, I sincerely believe that after another ten years, when we recall what we say today, history will prove us to be right.

Thank you.