India has lodged a strong protest against China’s announcement of the infrastructure projects in it is going to partner in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said. Mr. Jaishankar has not said when the protest was made, he only said that the External Affairs Ministry had spoken to the Chinese Ambassador Le Yucheng in Delhi and our Ambassador to Beijing Ashok Kantha has conveyed  India’s upset to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

For the first time the India government has stated publicly that it had reacted strongly to the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Pakistan visit, where he had announced a $46-billion package to construct infrastructure, including highways and hydel power projects along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through the PoK to the Gwadar port in Balochistan.

Minister of State V.K. Singh had said in the parliament that the “government keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India’s security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard it.”

"New Delhi is reluctant to admit that the widening trade gap is its fault, nor is it willing to examine its economic structure and the quality of its exports to China. The Indian government should loosen up on the limits of cross-border trade with China, improve efficiency of government administrations and relax visa restrictions to attract more Chinese companies," China said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be given a warm welcome by the Chinese premier Mr. Xi, who will travel to meet Modi in his native town of Xian on May 14, which comes as a reciprocal gesture for the grand reception given in Ahmedabad for the President and his wife on September 2014, when he visited India.

Even though exact number and nature of bilateral agreements that will be signed in Beijing on May 15 are not known, they are expected to include Chinese investment for railway projects and a railway academy in India, maritime research cooperation and one on sharing data on transboundary rivers.

Prime Minister Modi lands in Xian on May 14 where he and Xi Jinping will hold their summit meetings in the historical surroundings. Xi, is believed, will show Modi around the historical sites like the Wild Goose Pagoda. Xian was the start of the Silk Route and Xi's ancestral hometown.

By Premji