Explore Business Standard
India's new Ambassador to China Vikram Doraiswami arrived in Shanghai on Saturday to take up his posting amid expectations that his appointment will add momentum to the current normalisation process of Sino-India relations. He was received at the airport by the Indian Consul General in Shanghai Pratik Mathur and other officials. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is due to arrive in Beijing on Sunday. In Beijing, the 56-year-old diplomat succeeds Pradeep Kumar Rawat. Before his posting to Beijing, Doraiswami served as India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. His appointment in March this year evoked considerable interest in the Chinese official media and the Chinese strategic community. Welcoming Doraiswami's appointment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing on March 20 that the new Indian envoy has chosen a Chinese name for himself: Wei Jiameng. "China welcomes India's new ambassador to China Wei Jiameng, and stands rea
China accounts for around 16 per cent of India's total imports, but its dominance is significantly higher in industrial goods, supplying as much as 30.8 per cent of the country's requirements, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. The country's imports increased to USD 774.98 billion in 2025-26. Out of this, USD 131.63 billion was from China. Dependence on a single supplier for critical inputs leaves sectors like pharmaceuticals, electronics and clean energy exposed to disruptions, whether geopolitical or commercial, it said. The GTRI analysis said that about 66 per cent of India's imports from China, valued at USD 82.6 billion, are clustered in electronics, machinery, computers, and organic chemicals. China accounts for 43 per cent of India's electronics imports, 40 per cent of machinery and computer imports, and 44 per cent of organic chemicals. "These are not discretionary purchases but core inputs that feed directly into India's manufacturing ecosystem," Global Trade Research ...
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held talks with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun on the margins of a multilateral conclave in Bishkek. It is learnt that the two ministers reviewed the overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "It was a pleasure to interact with the Defence Minister of China Admiral Dong Jun during the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting in Bishkek," Singh said on social media. There is no official word yet on what transpired during the talks between Singh and Dong. The defence minister also met his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov. "Great interaction with Russian Defence Minister, Andrei Belousov during the SCO Defence Ministers' Meet in Bishkek," Singh said. Singh landed in the capital city of Kyrgyzstan on Monday to attend the conclave of defence ministers of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
India is following a diversified strategy to boost exports to China by strengthening domestic capacities while reducing import dependence through diversification of its supplier base, as complete decoupling from Beijing is difficult since Chinese inputs support the country's industrial growth, a senior official said. "While India may not have hard decoupling from China, it is creating its own capacity both in terms of having resilient supply chain and also in terms of increasing our own exports capacity," the official said. The senior government official added that India primarily imports raw materials, intermediate and capital goods, such as auto components, electronic parts and assemblies, mobile phone components, machinery and related parts, and active pharmaceutical ingredients, which are used to produce finished goods for export and support domestic manufacturing. "Whatever China is supplying is the backbone of India's production. Some consumer durables are also coming but are
Vikram Doraiswami wrapped his tenure as India's High Commissioner to the UK this week to head over to Beijing, where he will take up his new post as Ambassador to China. UK Foreign Office Minister for the Indo-Pacific Seema Malhotra hailed Doraiswami's role in taking the bilateral partnership to a "new level" during the course of his over three-year assignment in London. The British Indian minister referenced his "unflappable nature" and charm in overseeing the successful conclusion of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as one of the key highlights of the bilateral relationship last year. "You've taken the partnership between our countries to a new level, playing that central role in bringing the Free Trade Agreement to its conclusion and been part of making sure that the trade agreement dealt with every challenge in its way," said Malhotra, at a farewell gathering in London recently. "Your work has helped unlock new investment through the UK-India Infrastructure Financing ...
China on Tuesday said its policy to improve relations with India has not changed as it defended its move to publish new names for various regions in Arunachal Pradesh. India on Sunday categorically rejected China's efforts to assign "fictitious names" to Indian territory, asserting that such attempts to create "baseless narratives" cannot alter "undeniable reality" and could derail efforts to normalise bilateral ties. New Delhi's sharp reaction came against the backdrop of Beijing establishing a third new administrative county in Aksai Chin, a region India maintains as its sovereign territory. "India categorically rejects any mischievous attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places which form part of the territory of India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Reacting to Jaiswal's remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a media briefing here that Zangnan is China's territory, and China has never recognised the ..
An Indian chambers of commerce delegation is currently visiting China to interact with their counterparts here, marking the first such visit after the five-year freeze in relations. A delegation of the Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chambers of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) is on a visit to Shanghai and China's Jiangsu province, one of the most industrialised areas of China, from Mar 29 to April 4. This is the first Indian trade delegation to visit China after the two countries normalised bilateral relations last year, after over five years of hiatus following the military standoff at Eastern Ladakh in 2020. The relations were on the course of normalisation after the meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2024 and 2025 on the sidelines of the BRICS and SCO summits. The Indian Consulate General of Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, on Tuesday hosted a Business Round Table between the PHDCCI Delegation and leading companies and financial institutions from .
India on Saturday said it has strongly opposed the contentious China-led Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement for its incorporation into the WTO framework. Incorporation of the IFD agreement risks eroding the functional limits of the WTO and undermining its foundational principles, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a social media post. This was stated by India in the ongoing 14th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Yaounde, Cameroon. "At #WTOMC14, drawing inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi ji's philosophy of Truth prevailing over conformity, India showed the courage to stand alone on the contentious issue of the IFD Agreement and did not agree to its incorporation into the WTO framework as an Annex 4 Agreement," he said. Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement contains Plurilateral Trade Agreements that are binding only on the WTO members that have accepted them, unlike the mandatory multilateral agreements. As part of WTO reform
India, China relations have embarked on a "correct path" of improvement, and their shared interests far outweigh differences, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday. Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, China-India relations have embarked on a correct path of improvement and development, Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), said. Facing a complex and turbulent international situation, China is willing to work with India to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, uphold the principle of viewing each other as development opportunities rather than threats and treat each other as partners rather than competitors, he said during a farewell call on the outgoing Indian Ambassador Pradeep Rawat. India, China relations, which were frozen for over five years following the military standoff in Ladakh, improved after the meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Mo
China on Friday welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Vikram Doraiswami as the new Indian Ambassador, expressing hope that he will make a positive contribution to the sustained improvement of Sino-India ties. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The 56-year-old diplomat was Thursday appointed as India's new envoy to China. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat. He is expected to take up the new assignment shortly. Reacting to Doraiswami's appointment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing that envoys are an important bridge for fostering friendly and cooperative relations between nations. China welcomes India's new ambassador and will provide all facilitation to take up his post in China and looks forward to his positive role in improving India-China relations, Lin said, while replying to a question on Doraiswami's appointment. "I noted that Ambass
Seasoned diplomat Vikram Doraiswami was on Thursday appointed as India's new ambassador to China, a move that comes amid efforts by the two sides to rebuild ties that came under severe strain following the over four-year military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Doraiswami is expected to take up the new assignment shortly. In the last few months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to the lowest point in decades. The military stand-off effectively ended in October 2024. An alumnus of Delhi University with a master's degree in history, Doraiswami worked as a journalist for a year before joining the IFS. Following his in-service training in New Delhi (1992-1993
The government on Tuesday eased norms for foreign direct investment from all countries, including China, that share land borders with India, sources said. They said press note 3 of 2020 has been amended in this regard. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under this press note, foreign companies having shareholders from these countries required mandatory government approval for investments in India in any sector. Countries that share land borders with India are China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. China stands at the 23rd position with only 0.32 per cent share (USD 2.51 billion) in the total FDI equity inflow reported in India from April 2000 to December 2025. Ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. Following these tensions, India banne