MAMALLAPURAM: India and China on Saturday decided to set up a ministerial-level mechanism to resolve issues relating to trade, investment and services as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to further broadbase bilateral ties during their two-day informal summit.
In the talks, the Chinese president also agreed to take sincere steps in a concrete way to address India's concerns over ballooning trade deficit in China's favour. He also welcomed greater Indian investment in China in information technology and pharmaceutical sectors, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said.
The two leaders also briefly discussed issues relating to negotiations on firming up a trade pact under the ambitious Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (PCEP), a grouping of 16 nations.
Gokhale said the prime minister specifically said that India looks forward to the RCEP but added that it should be balanced
‘‘President Xi noted it and said China and India are ready to discuss the issue further and Indian concerns over it (RCEP) will be taken into account,” Gokhale said.