ISAS Briefs

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to China from 13 – 15 January 2008 was a step in the direction of keeping the momentum of building incremental and evolutionary cooperation between the Asian giants. No breakthroughs were expected and none happened. There was no bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) which China, sitting on a comfortable and increasing trade surplus of about US$10 billion, was keen on. Nor was there any conclusion of a “Framework Agreement” on the resolution of boundary issue that India has been looking forward to. The Chinese side was not forthcoming on endorsing the Indo-United States Civil Nuclear Cooperation, nor in assuring India that its request to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in the context of Indo-United States nuclear deal will be supported by China.