Insight

Partnering India on core projects can reduce 'mistrust'

By Ai Yang and Cheng Guangjin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-24 08:49

BEIJING - India's call for partnering with China on infrastructure projects will benefit both sides and help in reducing political distrust, Chinese experts said on Tuesday.

"We would like to foster partnership (between) India and China in infrastructure - especially for high-speed railway networks," Kamal Nath, India's Minister of Road Transport and Highways, said at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong on Monday. "There is a very good opportunity for China and India," he added.

India is encouraging overseas participation in its high speed rail network program. The country also needs $70 billion to beef up its road infrastructure over the next three years, of which $10 billion could come from overseas.

The increasing gap with China in railway development has caused concern in India.

"Railways is one of the sectors in which India was previously more advanced than China But faster expansion in China has turned it around," according to a study done earlier this month by the institutional equities division of India Infoline, a financial services advisory firm.

In the early 1980s, China lagged behind India in both total rail length and the length of electrified routes, but by 1996, the nation overtook India in total rail kilometers and by 2001, it had surpassed its neighbor in electrified route kilometers, the study said.

With a 6,442-kilometer high-speed passenger railway network, China currently has the world's longest high-speed rail operations.

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"China is willing to share its mature technology with other countries to boost the development of high-speed railways worldwide," He Huawu, the chief engineer of China's Ministry of Railway (MOR), was quoted as saying by People's Daily.

Chinese enterprises now partner with over 50 countries and regions, and China's MOR has already signed memoranda or understanding with the US and Russia.

China should also encourage qualified enterprises to participate more in India's road projects, but at the same time, avoid working in areas that are politically sensitive, Chinese experts said. This will help boost bilateral ties, they said.

In January, three engineers of a Chinese construction firm, which had subcontracted a project to a local Indian company, were arrested on charges of homicide in connection with a chimney collapse that killed 41 people in central India.

"The Chinese enterprises have to be very careful about the subcontractors they hire, as, at the end of the day, responsibilities will be traced back to them," said Lou Chunhao, a South Asia Studies scholar at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, referring to the case.

"We should view the project as a social as well as commercial engagement."

The Indian government recently tightened visa requirements for Chinese workers, according to Reuters.

Hu Shisheng, Luo's colleague and an expert on South Asia Studies, pointed out that political concerns would be an issue during economic cooperation. "Foreign companies are usually not allowed in sensitive areas."

"India usually excludes them from projects in the area of communications and in disputed regions. Some Chinese companies, who used to work in Pakistan, were also viewed with suspicion," Hu said.

"But, that is understandable as security is the priority. With strengthening economic ties, however, India will feel less threatened," Hu said.

To avoid such situations, "we can engage more in infrastructure construction in southern cities (of India) where the economy is more advanced. Less involvement in the north east region will also play down concerns," Lou suggested.